Alpine Passes Trail

Evolène is a well-preserved village in the Val d'Herèns with characteristic stone and wooden houses. It was established in 1882 when the municipality of Hérens was divided into Evolène and Saint-Martin. The Borgne river flows through the valley. It rises from the lower Arolla glacier and joins the Borgne de Ferpècle a little further up at Les Haudères. The municipality of Evolène stretches as far as the mighty Dent Blanche, which comes into view repeatedly on the first part of the hike.

After passing through the small village with its splendid church, you cross the Borgne. The first ascent follows after a colourfully flowering meadow: on a steep path through enchanting woods and past lush alpine meadows, you reach l'Ata Gieute. An hour later you arrive at Le Tsale de la Cretta. Around a dozen small cottages and stables with stone roofs, perfectly embedded in nature, can be discovered here. Together with the view of the imposing peak of the Grande Dent de Veisivi behind it, the place is ideal for a break. With the last ascent, you dive deeper and deeper into the Val d'Arolla. Far behind you can see Mont Collon (3637) and Pigne Arolla (3790) with their surrounding glaciers. After three and a half hours you arrive at the highest point at just under 2300 m.a.s.l.

Now you descend to Les Jutes and then climb up again to the Lac Bleu. Why the lake bears this name becomes immediately clear on the spot. Since it is less than an hour away from La Gouille and Satarma, you might meet more people here than on the previous route. By now about five hours into the tour, you tackle the last stretch to Arolla. Always up and down, with fantastic views and the smell of pine needles in your nose, the stage ends after about six and a half hours. The village of Arolla, which is also a part of Evolène, was discovered early on by alpinists as a starting point for mountain tours. However, it only became easily accessible in 1960, when a road was built along with the Grande Dixence dam.