Official website for tourism in the Aosta Valley
Parked the car at the bottom of the village of Challancin, follow the dirt road which climbs with hairpin bends crossing meadows and pastures until reaching Ponteilles. After 150 mt you meet a detour to Col de bard. Here turn on the right following the dirt road which gets into the wood and arrives in a charming clearing where some chalets of Arpilles are placed.
The itinerary starts from the chapel of Challancin where, following the asphalt road until the curve, continues on flat along the old muletrack. You go across meadows and get into the wood following a stream and out of the wood walk a piece of dirt road which gets to Morge gently in descent, crossing some meadows. It’s possible to admire the wood-carvings along the path made from the local artist Eliseo Lumignon.
The view is magnificient, because it offers a panorama over Valdigne and Mont Blanc.
Leave the car in Challancin, in the municipality of La Salle, which is reached by the road to Planaval. Go through the village and take the road that is closed to the traffic, paved at the start then unpaved, until you come to the Ponteille cabins. At the crossroad, ignore the right branch then continue along the left until you come to Hopitaux. A short distance later, take the short-cut on the right, then, when you come back to the road, continue on the right towards the Les Ors Désot pasture. From here, continue along trail 3, running close to Ors Damon and bending rightwards to go back onto the private road until you come to the Tramail des Ors pasture. Now go right, up over the meadows, until you reach the depression on Col Fetita.
Park the car just after the village of Morge where there is a wide parking. Follow the road until taking on the right a dirt road which goes down in a thick and fresh wood crossing the bridge over Planaval stream until meadows and chalets of Piginière.
From here the dirt road continues on the right, direction Planaval skirting the stream with ups and downs.
When you get to Chabodey, within La Salle, continue along the private road on the right orographic bank of the Dora Baltea, until you reach a “no entry” sign. Park the car, then go past the sign until you come to the start of route 11 on the left, which rises steeply through conifer woods, and comes out onto a private road just below the village of Lazei, which is reached in little time. Continue along the same route (first along the path, and then on the private road) towards Joux until you get to a crossroad. Ignore the right branch that goes to Joux, and take the left route (trail 5) and, after crossing the torrent and ignoring route 21 for Tillac, continue along the dirt road until you come to a hairpin bend near Alpe Val du Meiten. Ignore the track that crosses the stream and continue on the private road, on the same bank in the direction of Val du Fond. Just before this, near the stream crossing, leave the track and continue left on the trail that leads to the Promoud pasture.
The circular itinerary covers in part the route of stage no. 14 of the Cammino Balteo (marked with a 3 inside an inverted triangle) and has short stretches on paved roads.
Starting from the cemetery of La Salle, you enter the main town via Cesare Ollietti which leads to Piazza San Cassiano. After skirting the parish church, you will quickly reach piazza Cavalieri di Vittorio Veneto: the view of Mont Blanc is always fascinating.
Go back a few meters and proceed on along via Chanoux and, following the signpost for the Cammino Balteo, you leave the main town. After crossing the road that leads to the hills, the walk continues on along a level surface, on an asphalted road.
At Croix des Pres, in correspondence to the chapel of Notre Dame de La Guerison, you follow the narrow road on the left which after a few meters leads to the entrance to the “Tsanta Merla” path, following the trail sign for the Cammino Balteo (stage 14 - “La Salle -Avise :/en/database/7/cammino-balteo/-aosta-valley-/la-salle-avise/3011).
The walk continues pleasantly on a flat surface with a nice surprise for the little ones: numerous wooden mushrooms made by a local craftsman.
In correspondence to a bench on the right, looking up you can see the tower of the Châtelard castle. A little further on, at the intersection with a farm road and the crossing of the Ru du Moulin irrigation canal, the woods gives way to meadows frequented by roe deer. In periods of low tourist flow, early in the morning or in the evening at dusk, you are likely to spot them.
Once you arrive at a crossroads, you leave the Cammino Balteo and continue straight on. Here, among the colorful mushrooms, elves, owls, and hearts make their appearance.
At the first intersection, take the path to the right indicated by the yellow signpost number 5A towards Château de Chatelard. You pass through terraces that now are home to vegetable gardens and vineyards. The vineyards of Morgex and La Salle are among the highest in Europe. The vine cultivated is Prié Blanc which is called an “ungrafted vine” because, thanks to the altitude at which they can thrive, at the end of the 19th century this type of vine was not grafted onto American vines due to the plague of phylloxera. This vine is used in the production of the DOC wine Blanc de Morgex et de La Salle.
You climb for the most part outside of the woods; at the intersection with the farm road you go straight on to the next bend where you take the path on the right. The last few steps uphill and the castle comes into view. After crossing the residential area of Château, you take the asphalted road that goes down to the right. A few meters after the intersection, incorporated into the walls of the castle there is the old granary made of wood, dating back to before the 19th century. The granary was used by the whole community to store the cereals which were partly used to make flour and partly preserved for sowing the following year.
Proceed on along the asphalted road and turn right at the intersection. You then enter Châtelard, the first inhabited area on the left, and as you cross it, you can admire the village oven and the carefully restored houses. Once the stone paving has ended, turn right into the alley and follow it until you reach the asphalted road again: another beautiful view of the inhabited center of La Salle, with the Grivola in the background.
At the first bend, take the narrow path on the left that enters the woods. At the end of the path, you cross the La Salle playground until you reach the back of the Maison Gerbollier, the seat of the municipality.
Then go down towards the center of the main town and, before taking via Ollietti again and returning to the starting point, you can make another stop at Maison Plassier, home to a house-museum.
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From via Chanoux and, following the signpost of the Cammino Balteo hiking trail, you leave the capital village of La Salle. After crossing the road that leads to the hills, the walk continues on a flat paved road.
At Croix des Pres, near the chapel of Notre Dame de La Guerison, follow the small road to the left which in a few metres leads to the beginning of the “Tsanta Merla” path, following the trail markers of the Cammino Balteo (stage 14 – La Salle-Avise).
On the right, looking up, you can see the Châtelard castle tower.
Arrived at a crossroads, continue straight. Here among colored mushrooms, elves, owls and hearts make their appearance.
The walk, with a compact surface, is about 1.5 km long and reaches the hamlets of Villair and La Ruine Alta, in the municipality of Morgex. It has a beautiful panoramic view and in summer it is advisable to walk it in the coolest hours of the day. To go down to the hamlet of Villair there is a very steep descent, which cannot be covered with pushchairs (it is therefore preferable to head towards La Ruine Alta).
The stretch accessible to wheelchair users ends at the first crossroads, at the path indicated with the yellow trail number 5A towards Château de Châtelard.
Make your way along the farm road that leads to the Alpine pastures. Cross the Challancin pastures and then climb around three wide hairpin bends upto the Ponteilles Alpine pastures. Continue along the road and then after about 150 m you come to the junction for Col de Bard: turn right but not before taking a look at the panoramic view towards Mont Blanc.
Climb up along the farm track which goes through a thick fir-wood and make your way to Arpeilles: from here you take a path that proceeds through the wood half-way up the hillside. After an initial gentle stretch, you start climbing up the ridge-divide with the Comba di Vertosan; make your way through the very dense woods and every now and then you can catch some interesting panoramic views over the peaks that tower above the area around Morgex: from Mont Paramont to Mont Crammont. You go across a clearing, where other tracks point towards the top of the ridge which leads to Punta Fetita; you continue going across the hillside and re-enter the woods. After about 15 minutes the track becomes steeper and climbs rapidly around a few hairpin bends. Then you start to walk normally again, without too steep a climb, and after about 1h 30 mins you come to Col de Bard: from up here you can look down along the Comba di Vertosan. Don’t take the path to Punta Fetita but continue on towards the right in the direction of Court de Bard going through some beautiful surroundings. The path goes gently downwards and then climbs gradually towards our destination: the panoramic view over the surrounding peaks from Grivola to the Mont Blanc massif is quite magnificent. After a lovely walk lasting about half-an-hour you come to the rounded peak of Court de Bard (2261m).
From the last parking lot, carry your snow shoes for about 150 m until you find the farm road that starts on your right: you can put on snow shoes here.
The first part, slightly ascending, continues almost straight to the La Lié chalet. The path gains altitude from the chalet with a series of bends that cross the beautiful larch and red fir woods. You’ll find a few renovated chalets during the climb while the impressive pyramid shape of Aiguille de Chambave appears before your. Ignore the slopes you find on your right to quickly climb to altitude 2000 m near Plan Bellard. The woods become thinner as you reach the snow-covered fields under the mountain pastures: just a few more minutes and you’re in Les Ors desot.
Leaving the pastures, head to your right to the farm road slope: continue North-East heading towards Tête des Fra, crossing the slope until you reach the magnificent ring of snow under Col Fetita. Climb the snow-covered slope keeping to the right bank of the Pissorio stream. Along the route you can enjoy some breathtaking views of the rugged Grande Rochère and Aiguille de Bonalex peaks. Continue across the wide snow-covered slope to the foot of col Fetita (only cross this segment in excellent snow conditions). From here, turn left and cross the practically flat route to Tramail des Ors.
From Morge, 1,694 m, climb up the fields above and long farm roads to the ridge that quickly leads to the Les Ors chalet, 2,100 m. Cross on the left to the wide valley on the marked and unmarked paths that lead to Col Fetita, 2,557 m (you can reach the hill on the left following a more direct route). Turn left and follow the ridge to the forepeak. Continue along the ridge keeping to the eastern slope as much as possible and cross to the peak.
Percorso di una trentina di chilometri (andata e ritorno) nella Valdigne, nell’area turistica del Monte Bianco. Si pedala senza troppo dislivello lungo un itinerario ad anello con partenza da Morgex. Dopo aver raggiunto La Salle si passa da Derby, villaggio ricco di storia con una interessante chiesa. Sa qui il percorso vira e ritorna a La Salle lungo una strada diversa. Poi si pedala verso Pré-Saint-Didier e si prosegue per Courmayeur, famosa ed elegante stazione turistica, da cui si rientra a Pré-Saint-Didier e poi a Morgex.
Da Morgex si raggiunge la frazione di La Ruine e poi a La Salle da cui si sale al villaggio di Challancin. Dopo una brevissima discesa si arriva a Cheverel (1487 m) da cui ha inizio la salita per Planaval. Da qui in discesa si ritorna a La Salle e, passando per Le Pont, a Morgex.
The route, which has a difference in altitude of 38 meters and a maximum gradient of 28%, starts from the Pautex village (Morgex), where you can admire some examples of rural architecture, the community oven and a fountain with very fresh water that allows you to fill water bottles, and arrives at the hamlet of Le Pont (La Salle).
It runs along the Dora Baltea until it reaches the Marais Nature Reserve, where it is possible to spot various species of aquatic birds during the migratory seasons, in spring and autumn.
To facilitate sightings, observation huts have been created within the area, suitable for the different heights of children and adults.
