Col Entrelor, from Eaux Rousses

Access

From the motorway barrier at Aosta-West, keep left and follow the signs for Aosta - Saint-Pierre. After one kilometre, at the roundabout, take the second exit to join the national road . Continue on the state road for 4.3 kilometres, passing the village of Saint-Pierre until you reach a new roundabout with the Gran Paradiso National Park sign. Take the first exit and continue on the state road for 1.4 kilometres until you come to the exit for Introd/Rhemes S.G/Rhemes N.D/Valsavarenche. Continue for 700 metres and at the roundabout take the first exit onto for Valsavarenche. Follow the regional road for 3.9 kilometres, pass the village of Introd and, after a series of hairpin bends, you will reach the junction for Val di Rhêmes . Continue left on and climb the valley for a further 19.2 kilometres, passing the main town of Dégioz before reaching the village of Eaux Rousses, where a number of free car parks are located on the sides of the road 🅿️.

[0h35'] - [27.7km]
How to get there with GMaps
How to get there with Apple Maps

Eaux Rousses can also be reached by bus with the company Arrive, leaving from Villeneuve in about 45 minutes.

The directions given here have been verified at the time of the survey of the route. Before setting off, it is advisable to ensure that there are no substantial changes to the route. We therefore recommend using the satellite navigation apps provided by Google or Apple to obtain up-to-date and detailed directions.

Introduction

The Col Entrelor is an Alpine pass in the Graian Alps, located in Valle d'Aosta, in the municipality of Valsavarenche. The pass connects Valsavarenche with Val di Rhêmes. The altitude of the pass is 3,002 metres above sea level. The pass can be reached via several routes, the easiest of which starts from Eaux-Rousses, a hamlet of the municipality of Valsavarenche.

Description

0h00' 0.00km From the car park, go to the marker post indicating the paths on the slope, turn right to enter the pretty village of Eaux Rousses. At the end of the village you will come to the Hotellerie du Paradis, a stopover on the Alta Via and you will reach the little access road to the structure: a few metres further on you will come across a new signpost indicating the start of the path on the left of the direction of travel.
0h05' 0.21km After passing a horse enclosure, proceed through the larch wood on a pleasant wide mule track. The walk is pleasant thanks to the gentle slope given to the path, which goes uphill for a long stretch, interspersed with a few turns to gain a little altitude. At the end of the traverse, we turn left and continue through the beautiful Great Forest, which occasionally affords some suggestive views of the Ciarforon, until a new turn to the right. Following the undulations of the slope, cross an immpluvium until you come to the short but suggestive clearing where the Rondzegou farmstead (1974m) is located. Shortly after, pass a few more bends and re-enter the forest, still heading northwards on an ascending slope, until you come to the unnumbered path on the right that leads to Carré. Neglect the diversions, proceeding on the main path until reaching a beautiful pastureland. Walk along the pastureland and take a slight left turn onto a paved section of the trail, which soon leads to a wooded area where the trail coming from Le Créton (2110m) meets the path (1h05'T2) 3.30km . The destination is not far away, go up a hump with a few bends to reach the pleasant plateau before Orvieille. Following the path, take a wide bend to the left until you reach the marker signposting the Punta Bioula, path .
1h13' 3.74km Obviously, this diversions is disregarded and, with a few dozen metres' walk, you reach the Casotto PNGP di Orvieille (2168m).
1h15' 3.81km Leave the Casotto PNGP on your left and continue southwards on the beautiful single-track path; climb up the slope with a pleasant traverse as the characteristic north face of the Gran Paradiso peeps out, and in a few minutes you reach the Alpe Djouan (2226m). 
1h25' 4.41km Continue on the wide path that begins to veer to the right as the glacial ice cap of the Ciarforon glacier appears splendidly; slowly enter the Entrelor valley and reach the Chauplanaz group of alpine pastures (2287m). 
1h25' 4.84km The path continues to climb the valley, keeping to its orographic left; having passed a white debris belt, the slope cut by the itinerary loses its inclination and the path approaches the splendid pastures that precede the destination. Reaching an altitude of 2492m, in view of the Lacs alpine pastures, we meet on the right the faint trace of the path for the Col de Sort, which should be disregarded.
2h10' 6.76km Last short effort to reach the emerald Lac de Djouan (2516m), a small pearl set in the beautiful cirque of peaks surrounding the Col d'Entrelor.
2h15' 7.00km Continue in a westerly direction, leaving the lake on the left until meeting the junction with path .
2h15' 7.08km Neglect the diversions and continue straight on up the beautiful pastures of the valley. The path, which is always clear, leaves the Lacs dessus pastureland on the left and leads towards the left to a grassy hump from which it is possible to reach Lac Noir (2670m) in a few minutes.
2h30' 8.24km Continue along the easy path, slowly leaving the last remnants of alpine meadowland behind and entering the classic high-altitude environment of scree and boulders. The goal is always visible in front of your eyes, and without any particular effort you finally reach the characteristic pyramid-shaped cairn that distinguishes Col Entrelor (3002m) 3h25' 10.18km .

The return journey follows the same route as the outward journey 1h30' 10.18km .