Pic de Morgon

Second time lucky.

START: le Grand Clot
FINISH: le Grand Clot
DISTANCE: 9km
TIME: 3 hours

Time for some unfinished business. Last year, I attempted to ascend the mighty Pic de Morgon, which, sat bang smack on Lac de Serre Ponçon's shoreline, is the closest this area has got to an iconic mountain. However, due to a mixture of bad weather and poor route choice, I ended up not making the climb onto Morgon's lofty top. Ever since, it has been staring at me from the other side of the lake, its ferocious crags mocking my failure.

However, this year is different. Parking at a different car park, with better weather and a clearer route, I shall now deliver to you the definitive Pic de Morgon walking guide.


Park at le Grand Clot in the Foret de Boscodon, a lovely forested valley which is not too far from the Ubaye valley to the south. To reach the carpark you have to drive up a steep dirt road for quite a distance (about 5km). When you are there though you are in for a treat - this walk is one of the loveliest in the area, with a great variety of terrain and landscape with some terrific views.


View this route in a larger map

From the carpark, head south and take the main forest track. This snakes and zigzags up through the forest, making for a long, relatively easy ascent. There are shortcuts, though these can often be full of scree and are therefore not advised. After the ascent the track begins to plateau along the contour of the hillside, and you will be able to glimpse through the trees the summit of Pic de Morgon. Careful though: you will also notice that the land drops away to the right side of the track, right down to the deep blue of Lac de Serre-Ponçon below.

Follow the plateaued track, and the turn the corner at the end. And then another. And then another. And there, you will notice the trees slowly disappear behind you. What is left in front of you is one of this area's best kept secrets.

The Cirq de Morgon

The Cirq de Morgon is a beautiful basin: pastures and meadows and wildflowers rimmed by a ridge of serrated mountain edges. Odd trees are dotted in between hillocks and knolls. Though hidden from where you will be standing and often dried out in summer, there is even a little lake over to the north. Marmots and other wildlife love the area.

Of the mountain edges, Pic de Morgon is the one on the far right: the one which looks the most obvious pointed peak, but much less serrated and foreboding than the others. To access the mountain, drop down the slight incline before you and cross the large field, passed the little ramshackle hut and towards the river. You may even see fellow walkers making the same journey, in what looks to be a miniature crossing of the great plains.

Passed the hut and towards the river. You may find the latter to be completely dried up, as is the case with most alpine rivers in summer, though it makes it easy to cross. Head over the river, and ascend up through the narrow valley in front of you (the scars on the hillside to the left are a red herring - do not follow these!).

The path winds up and through the narrow valley, the path splitting into various different paths which soon connect back together later; try to pick the routes with the larger rocks as these make for better ground to grip.

Towards the top

After this section the incline shallows into another, smaller corrie where you can catch your breath and have a break before the final ascent. From this corrie you can start to see some of the great views to come: Lac de Serre Ponçon  and its western shore (including old favourites like Mont Guillaume and the Aigilles de Chabrière) open up to you, with more to come. Also be sure (either on the way up or down) to hop onto the small hill to your right for the best view back into the beautiful Cirq de Morgon.

After you have caught your breath, you can take on the final ascent. This is the steepest section of the walk, made particularly tricky by the fact that the path has become slippery with erosion. Take your time, however, and it becomes relatively easy. The path then levels off again, and swoops round the final knoll and on to the summit, marked by the cairn and a subsequent metal structure.

The serrated edges of the Cirq de Morgon, viewed from the Pic de Morgon itself.

Take your breath, then take in the view. Below you sits the Cirq and its rim of serrated edges - just look at the ones coming off the hill closest to you! To the east lies Morgon's neighbour, Dormilouse, and beyond that the hills of the Ubaye valley. Mountains lie far to the south, with the peaks of La Viste and its neighbours, as well as the aforementioned Chabrières and Guillaume. It is beyond this that the fun starts: the icy peaks beyond Le Drouvet lie behind and to the south of the La Viste range, and, even more impressively, the behemoths of the Ecrins National Park - Ailefroide, Barre des Ecrins and Pelvoux - sit in ever-wintry splendour behind Mont Guillaume and its neighbours. To the north, the sharp edges of the Queyras Regional Park and Italy bathe in the sun. And above all, the deep blue Lac de Serre Ponçon is the icing on the cake.

Towards Lac de Serre Poncon and the Ecrins.

Spend some time taking it all in, and then descend the way you came, taking particular care with the slippery bits as noted above.

Even as you descend, the views northward are spectacular.

So, a year on from last year's defeat, I have finally managed to scale the lofty heights of Pic de Morgon. And the walk, the Cirq and the view mean the prize is far greater than just the sense of achievement. Even though I have now walked it, I would love to do it again.

An absolute necessity if you are in the area. A great walk.