GR®54 Tour Oisans & Ecrins

A high demanding hike of about fifteen days starting from Bourg d'Oisans. The GR®54 invites the walker to discover the Écrins National Park and to contemplate the peaks of the Southern Alps.

A real sporting challenge of 190 kilometres, with 14 passes and more than 12,000 metres of ascent, the GR®54 invites you to rub shoulders with the highest peaks of the Écrins. One of the most important long-distance hiking trails in the French Alps, it is committed to providing an experience rich in emotions and discoveries through a wide variety of emblematic landscapes and to meeting the biodiversity of the National Park. 

Starting from Bourg d'Oisans, the Tour de l'Oisans et des Ecrins begins its grand tour by handrails to reach its small hamlets clinging to the mountainside. It then descends to the Sarenne torrent and climbs up to the pass, a viewpoint of the Monts de Lans. Then comes a descent to Clavans and the Ferrand valley followed by a beautiful climb to Besse-en-Oisans on the border of the vast Emparis plateau. Above, the Col de Souchet offers a five star view of the Meije. Nearly 1000 metres of negative altitude difference allow you to reach La Grave. From here you must continue along the Romanche to its source in the Villar d'Arène mountain pasture. Arriving at the Arsine pass, the view is breathtaking. The high mountain world invites you to visit the glacier lake of Arsine before starting a long descent along the Petit Tabuc torrent to the Guisane valley and Monêtier-les-Bains. Objective La Vallouise by the Eychauda pass and the peaceful chalets of Chambran. Eight kms of road along the torrent de l'Onde and here is the Jas Lacroix mountain pasture. The passage of the Col de l'Aup Martin, the highest of the whole itinerary, is always a highlight of the adventure, and the descent to the Pré de la Chaumette is just as sporting. To reach the lake of Vallonpierre and the Valgaudemar, no less than three passes cut into the schist must be negotiated with care. Along the Séveraisse, the path reaches La Chapelle en Valgaudemar and rises again at Villar Loubière to the Souffles refuge and the impressive Vaurze pass. Equally impressive is the descent to the wild Valjouffrey. The green Côte Belle pass contrasts with the shale landscapes encountered earlier. Valsenestre, in the Béranger valley, is a saving grace before setting off again for the last meanders. The vertical col de la Muzelle is the gateway to the Vénéon. A final pass to reach the largest lake in the Oisans, the Lauvitel, and here is Le Bourg d'Oisans again. The loop is complete!

The GR® 54 can be done from Le Bourg d'Oisans, L'Argentière, La Grave or any other hamlet on the route.