Parc Merlet is one of the main attractions in the Chamonix valley. It is a beautiful animal park featuring all the local species in a spectacular setting overlooking the Chamonix Valley and the Mont Blanc. It also has a nice restaurant with great views. You can reach Parc Merlet by car and there is also a bus that can take you from the Les Houches train station up to the park. You can find more details on opening dates and parking and public transport options on the website of Parc Merlet.

The trail we are presenting here is the best option is you want to walk or run to Parc Merlet using the Petite Balcon Sud (PBS). On the way you will be passing by the Pierre a Ruskin monument with an option to take a slight detour to visit the Genevieve Bouvier memorial. One nice added bonus of walking to Parc Merlet is that you get a small discount on your park entrance ticket if you take the trail. They check this by putting a password along the trail which you will then need to share with the park ticket sales office to receive your discount. It is a nice trail but it is not short and it includes quite a bit of vertical gain. Plus the trail and statistics presented here are just for one way going from Chamonix to Merlet. If you plan to also walk back then you will need to double those statistics. The trail is nice enough with nice forest and some nice openings for views over the valley. The best views are still from within Park Merlet so just be aware that this trail does not add anything spectacular to match what you will experience inside the park. If you still want the discount and dont want to worry about parking or the bus then there are many alternative starting points between Chamonix and Les Houches that you could take to walk up to Parc Merlet.