Merlet to Plan de la Cry and Le Christ Roi
5
Overall rating
Average
Length
5.67km
Elevation + / -
376m / 376m
Trail type
Loop
When to go
Mid Apr - End Oct
Hike duration
1.5 - 2.5 Hours
Altitude Range
1207m / 1553m
Technical level
Easy (2/5)
Natural beauty
Nice (3/5)
Run duration
45 - 75 Mins
Families
4+ Years old
Dogs
Dogs Allowed
Provision Sources
None
Contributors:
This is a medium altitude trail which takes you from Parc Merlet to a nice view point at the Plan de la Cry with a slight detour to the Lac Noir. From there you descend to the hamlet of Le Coupeau. Your last stop will be the Christ Roi (Christ the King) statue before heading back to Parc Merlet. You can easily combine this with a visit to the actual park in case you feel like doing a smallish, family friendly trail afterwards. The Christ the King statue is visible from the main road that goes through the Chamonix Valley and it is very recognizable. When actually visiting the statue you will not see much of the statue as there are lot of big trees around it. There is an altar how ever and you can see the small chapel inside the statue from the outside.
Overall a nice little trail which good views over the Mont Blanc. They will not be as spectacular as the higher altitude trails above like the Aiguillette des Houches but definitely a lot more family friendly.
Photos of this Trail
We have a large library of pictures from in and around the Chamonix Valley. All pictures are categorized and geo location tagged. These are the pictures we have for this trail. Click on any picture to view it's details and location.
Trail Directions & Safety Considerations
Children
4+ Years old
Dogs
We recommend to keep your dog on a leash
When to Go
Mid Apr - End Oct
Risk Considerations & Difficulty Assessment
This route reaches an altitude of 1553m and I would expect the trails to be snow free and accessible from mid April to the end of October. The trails are well marked but there are many trails leading in the same direction during this trail and staying on the right one will require a map and gps application. Getting through the Le Coupeau village and onto the right trail towards Le Christ Roi can be a bit challenging too but there are no big mistakes you can make here and there plenty of trail markers in Le Coupeau that mention the Crist Roi. The trails themselves are family friendly and not difficult.
Trail Starting Point
You can start this trail at the parking lots along the road to Merlet. You could also start this from Parc Merlet and add the park to your day. There is a bus going to Merlet from Les Houches when the Parc is open. Check the Parc Merlet website for details.
Trail Directions
Your initial goal is to reach the path up the west side of Parc Merlet. Depending on where you parked or whether you took the bus, you will need to make your way to this junction. From there take the path up and keep going up till you see the trail marker for Plan de la Cry. This is traverse going slowly up and then down to Plan de la Cry. About midway to Plan de la Cry there will be a junction with another trail that heads towards the little mountain lake of Lac Noir. This is very nearby and the lake is quite cute so we recommend taking this slight detour.
Plan de la Cry is the nicest view point of the trail and worthy of a quick break. After Plan de la Cry you will descend towards the town of Le Coupeau. You will pass by the parking lot and head further down the trail. You could take the main road but the road is quite narrow and its safer to stay on the trails. To minimize your time on the time road we recommend you take a left turn on the main road and head towards a trail that starts at a bend in the road. This is not necessary and you could just follow the main road to the Christ Roi statue. From the Christ Roi statue it is easy to navigate back to the Merlet parking.
Points of Interest for this Trail
We have a large database of all of the points of interests in and around Chamonix. These are the points of interest you will find along this trail:
3D Map & GPS
Trail Route Map & GPS
You can download the GPX file and load this route into your own GPS enabled device or application. If you are on Strava, then you can open this route in Strava and save it to your account.
3D Map of this Trail
FATMAP in an incredible website and mobile application that you can use to view the trail in full 3D, do a fly over of the route and get a detailed vertical profile. You can view the FATMAP of this trail below and use the 'View larger map' link to visit the trail on the FATMAP website.
