Colmars and the Lac d'Allos: The Border Forts and Europe's Largest High Mountain Lake
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France
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Lac d'Allos Walker
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300
XP
+100 France
= 400 total
2 days
Colmars and the Lac d'Allos: The Border Forts and Europe's Largest High Mountain Lake
300 + 100 XP
Colmars, at 1,230 m where the Lance meets the Verdon, is walled all round and guarded by two forts of the 1690s, the Fort de Savoie and the Fort de France. They were designed by Niquet, chief engineer of Provence, after a Piedmontese raid in 1690, and built by Richerand: Vauban travelled in the Alps in 1693 but never came to Colmars, and only signed the plans his subordinates sent him. Up the valley above Allos, the Lac d'Allos at 2,230 m below Mont Pelat is the largest natural high-altitude lake in Europe.
Required Activities
1
of 5
Walk Colmars' whole enceinte and count the towers, five pentagonal bastioned ones and two square, then put your hand on a wall: they are 80 cm thick, built to stop musket balls and nothing heavier, because the col d'Allos above only ever let a small force through without guns
2
of 5
Follow the Lance torrent through the Scots pines from Colmars to the Cascade de la Lance, about 2.6km there and back
3
of 5
Walk the shore of the Lac d'Allos, 43 hectares and 50 m deep in a glacial cirque under Mont Pelat, and look for the stream leaving it: there is none, because the whole lake drains underground and comes out again at the source du Chadoulin below. Finish at the chapel on the shore
4
of 5
Go up to both forts and see how differently they were built for the same job: the Fort de Savoie, trapezoidal, with its round gun tower towards the town, and the Fort de France, a square 25 m a side, where the double caponniere of 1693-95 you walk in through is still the original
5
of 5
From the shore path, watch the shallows for the trout and the Arctic char that live in the lake, netted commercially here until the Mercantour park was created in 1979, and pick out the moraine ridges that ring the cirque above the water
Walk Colmars' whole enceinte and count the towers, five pentagonal bastioned ones and two square, then put your hand on a wall: they are 80 cm thick, built to stop musket balls and nothing heavier, because the col d'Allos above only ever let a small force through without guns
Follow the Lance torrent through the Scots pines from Colmars to the Cascade de la Lance, about 2.6km there and back
Walk the shore of the Lac d'Allos, 43 hectares and 50 m deep in a glacial cirque under Mont Pelat, and look for the stream leaving it: there is none, because the whole lake drains underground and comes out again at the source du Chadoulin below. Finish at the chapel on the shore
Go up to both forts and see how differently they were built for the same job: the Fort de Savoie, trapezoidal, with its round gun tower towards the town, and the Fort de France, a square 25 m a side, where the double caponniere of 1693-95 you walk in through is still the original
From the shore path, watch the shallows for the trout and the Arctic char that live in the lake, netted commercially here until the Mercantour park was created in 1979, and pick out the moraine ridges that ring the cirque above the water
Before you go
The Lac d'Allos is in the Mercantour national park: dogs, camping, fires and drones are not allowed and the road up from Allos closes with the first snow, usually leaving only summer and early autumn. The immersive exhibition in the Fort de Savoie is shown in summer and school holidays only. The upper Verdon valley is avalanche and flood country, so check conditions before driving up.
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Challenge Location
XP Breakdown
Challenge XP
300 XP
France country bonus
+100 XP
Potential total
400 XP
Country bonus earned on completion of your first challenge in France.
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