La Haute Traversée de Belledonne · Stage 11
Walking time as hautetraverseedebelledonne.com states it for this stage; measured on the mapped line: 4 h 58. Climb measured on the mapped line, on terrain heights. Hautetraverseedebelledonne.com
From Le Recoin to Roche Béranger, then a long descent, mostly through forest, by the Col de la Madeleine and the hamlets of Mont Sec and Montjean to Vizille, arriving behind the château: 17 km, 5 h 30, 1,785 m down (our line: 17.1 km).
Best season: Mid-June to mid-September. The guarded huts open from about mid-June to mid-September: in 2026 La Pra from 5 June to 27 September, Jean Collet from 15 June to 19 September, the Yayla yurts from 27 June to 27 September, and Pierre du Carre and L'Oule from mid-June to mid-September; Sept-Laux stayed open until 11 October. On 13 October 2026 the guarded season is over. Sept-Laux is closed until about 1 June. Jean Collet and La Pra have no keeper and keep only a winter room: 8 places without mattresses, blankets or gas at Jean Collet (no booking; 8 euros paid at the hut), and 18 beds at La Pra, to be booked and paid online first. Pierre du Carre publishes no winter room; L'Oule stays accessible, but ask the keeper first; the Habert d'Aiguebelle publishes no dates. Out of season, plan for no meals and no keeper on the high ground, and carry food, a stove and a sleeping bag. The passes can hold snow late in the season, and La Pra advises against walking up after the first heavy snow. The summer buses into the valleys stopped on 31 August. Before you go
Facts read from the guide's sources and OpenStreetMap on 13 October 2026. A page can change after we read it, so confirm with your accommodation before you rely on a date or a bed.
Stage start
Town
The ski resort of Chamrousse at Le Recoin (1,650 m), with shops and the all-year N93 bus to Grenoble. A small bivouac area has been laid out here, the stage page says; the tourist office handles other lodging.
A town or village: find accommodation yourself. TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
Stage end · overnight
Town
The trail ends behind the château of Vizille. The town has lodging, places to eat and buses to Grenoble, the stage page says; ask the tourist office about rooms.
A town or village: find accommodation yourself. TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
Make it your trip
In the guarded season, from mid-June to mid-September, book every night: booking is compulsory at Pierre du Carre and Sept-Laux, the Habert d'Aiguebelle asks for a deposit, and La Pra must be booked even when it is unguarded. La Perrière is unguarded and cannot be booked. Out of season, as now, the huts on the ridge have no keeper and no meals: carry food, a stove, a sleeping bag and a mat, and count only on the winter rooms the huts announce (Jean Collet, 8 places; La Pra, 18 beds). Camping is tolerated on most of the range; ask the hut keepers and shepherds where. Fires are banned in the south of the range, from the Grand Colon to the Arselle; stoves are allowed.
Espace Belledonne's eleven stages, a night at the end of each.
Plan this journeyTen stages to Chamrousse, where the N93 bus runs to Grenoble all year; the last descent to Vizille left out.
Plan this journeyLoading the forecast for low point (281 m) and high point (1,673 m)…
Typical weather on this stage: at the lowest point (281 m) and the highest point (1,673 m). Select a month to see why it is rated as it is.
| Month | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weather | Poor | Poor | Mixed | Mixed | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Mixed | Poor |
| High point, day / night | 1°/-6° | 2°/-6° | 5°/-3° | 8°/0° | 13°/4° | 17°/7° | 20°/9° | 20°/9° | 15°/6° | 10°/3° | 5°/-1° | 2°/-4° |
| Low point, day / night | 8°/-1° | 10°/0° | 15°/4° | 18°/7° | 22°/11° | 26°/14° | 29°/15° | 28°/15° | 23°/12° | 18°/9° | 12°/4° | 8°/1° |
| Rain, mm | 111 | 88 | 97 | 95 | 120 | 94 | 71 | 84 | 110 | 124 | 162 | 134 |
| Snow at high point | Likely | Likely | Possible | Possible | – | – | – | – | – | – | Possible | Possible |
| Daylight | 9 h 07 | 10 h 23 | 11 h 50 | 13 h 27 | 14 h 49 | 15 h 36 | 15 h 19 | 14 h 09 | 12 h 36 | 11 h 03 | 9 h 35 | 8 h 47 |
Source: TerraClimate 1991–2020 monthly averages. Averages for the area at each point’s elevation (4 km grid, corrected for height). Not a forecast or a report of current trail conditions. Snow at the high point is estimated with a simple snowpack model from these temperatures and precipitation, not observed; steep islands and high summits can hold more snow than it shows. Daylight is for the 15th of each month. Hut, transport and park seasons are separate: check them for your dates.
Before you go
Arrange your stays, food and travel first, then check conditions again near departure.
Checked on the huts' own pages on 13 October 2026: Sept-Laux stayed open until 11 October and reopens about 1 June; Jean Collet is closed for the winter, with a winter room of 8 places, €8 a night paid on site, no booking and no mattresses, blankets or gas; La Pra is unguarded, with a winter room of 18 beds that you must book and pay online first; the Yayla's season ended on 27 September; Pierre du Carre and L'Oule are guarded only from mid-June to mid-September. Jean Collet takes bookings for summer 2027 from February.
Refuge Jean Collet: winter openingThe commune of La Combe-de-Lancey closed the GR 738 by the Lac du Crozet after a rockfall in 2022. FFRandonnée Isère wrote in January 2024 that the ban was lifted in May 2023 and the path restored, with no stopping in the rockfall zone; but Isère Attractivité's GR 738 listing, updated on 8 July 2026, still carries a map of a temporary closure between the lake and La Pra. Our line follows the usual route by the lake. Check with FFRandonnée Isère or the commune before you go; the 2022 detour over the Col de Freydane was partly off-path, for experienced mountain walkers, and is not confirmed as current. Read 13 October 2026.
FFRandonnée Isère: GR 738 Lac du CrozetFFRandonnée says the GR 738 is for experienced walkers at ease in the mountains: about 10,000 m of climbing, scree and steep slopes, with few really exposed passages. The Col de la Vache (2,556 m) on stage 7 is the high point, reached by steep scree, and the passes can hold snow late in the season. Stage 2 (8 h) is the longest day, and the stage pages call stages 4 and 5 difficult.
FFRandonnée: the GR 738 in BelledonneCamping is tolerated on most of the range, but not on private land, near flocks and their guard dogs, in sensitive areas or on helicopter landing zones: ask hut keepers and shepherds. Fires are banned in the south of the range, from the Grand Colon to the Arselle, and from 15 June to 15 September within 200 m of woods; stoves are allowed. Springs can dry up late in the season: carry enough water, or tablets to treat stream water. Espace Belledonne's bivouac page, read 13 October 2026.
Espace Belledonne: bivouac in BelledonneEspace Belledonne posts trail news (huts, bivouac, waymarks), and FFRandonnée Isère posts path notices for Isère as "Info Sentiers". On 13 October 2026 neither showed a closure on the GR 738 apart from the Lac du Crozet question above.
Espace Belledonne: newsGetting there
Travel around Chamrousse - Le Recoin to Vizille.
Google Maps journey searches, not confirmed services. A mountain endpoint may need a booked transfer or an additional walk.
Aiguebelle (Val d'Arc), in the Maurienne valley, has a TER train halt. Espace Belledonne's transport page gives sample train times between Aiguebelle and Vizille, about €18 one way, and asks you to check them with SNCF.
SNCF TER Auvergne-Rhône-AlpesThe N93 bus runs all year between Grenoble and Chamrousse, the end of stage 10; book it on M-Réso. Bus 86 serves Allevard all year. The summer buses to Prapoutel-Les Sept-Laux (N94), the Collet d'Allevard (N97) and Fond de France (N98) run only from 5 July to 31 August.
Espace Belledonne: getting there by public transportBuses C13, T75, 23 and T90 link Vizille with Grenoble and Gières; plan with Itinisère. Leaving a car in Vizille for more than 3 days needs a long-stay request to the municipal police.
Itinisère: journey plannerTake your trip with you
Prepare each stage in the valley, while you still have a connection: the Habert d'Aiguebelle has no mobile network.
Keep your route and maps on your phone for places without a signal. For multi-day trips, prepare them in the installed TrailSplits app.
Saving a bookmark is not a map download. Storage can be cleared by your device; keep a backup map for remote trips.
Route & sources
Espace Belledonne, the official site for walking in Belledonne, publishes the GR 738 as eleven stages from Aiguebelle (now Val d'Arc) to Vizille, with an official stage time for each, shown beside ours on every stage. Its estimated stage distances add up to 130.5 km and its climbs to about 11,075 m; its stage GPX files measure about 128 km, and FFRandonnée's article on the GR 738 gives 140 km in one place and 130 km in another. The line here is the GR 738 on OpenStreetMap (the eleven stage relations of superroute 11999802, from the planet of 11 October 2026): 131.4 km over the whole trail, cut at the eleven official stage ends. Our climb, about 9,600 m, is below the official figures because it is measured on terrain heights, which smooth out short steep steps. On stage 9 the line follows the usual route by the Lac du Crozet, where sources disagree on whether the path is open: check before you go.
Official guidance and mapped-source comparison checked 13 October 2026. Map data is a route reference, not confirmation of today's path, weather or accommodation availability.
Espace Belledonne: Haute Traversée de Belledonne GR 738Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors · Source relation