Tour of the beautiful Lac de Salanfe – September 1st

6 hrs., 15.5 km, 730 meters up and down, Level: Difficult

Meeting point: Meeting point Van d’en Haut camping at 10h00 

Organised by: Vanessa (speaks DE, FR, EN)

About the hike

Leading up from the valley of «Vallon de Van» to the Lac de Salanfe at the foot of the Dents du Midi, this hiking trail passes through a wild Alpine landscape to an abandoned gold mine.
 
The Lac de Salanfe is a high-altitude reservoir (1,909m above sea level) with a wonderful view and a fascinating history. The hike starts at the end of the public road in the idyllic Vallon de Van with a steep ascent through the valley to the Salanfe dam. Surrounded by the beautiful peaks of the Dents du Midi and the impressive summit of the Tour Sallière, the reservoir is used to store glacier water.
 
The hiking trail runs around the lake, surrounded by a beautiful mountain landscape full of fascinating flora and fauna. The surreal-looking rock formations are just as impressive as the river delta at the end of the dam, which is dominated by the «Glacier Noir» (Black Glacier). The hiking trail passes through the quiet, peaceful landscape of a region visited by many gold miners in the early 20th century.

Please note

Please take hiking poles, wear good hiking shoes, sun cream / Hats are important, swimsuit if you want to swim, plenty of water and picnic.  There is a restaurant up there if needed. 

Travel information

Unfortunately, there are not many buses up to Van d’en Haut.

 

From Zürich at 6:02 take the train with all connections to Martigny and then change to take the train to Marecottes, and finish with the bus B225 to Van d’en Haut it takes 3h58 minutes (day pass needed).
 
From Geneva take the train at 7:10 to Martigny, then train to Martigny, switch at les Marecottes to the bus 225 to Van d’en Haut.  normal ticket with Half fare is 59.80 round trip.
 
From Bern take the train at 7:07 and switch out at Visp to continue to Martigny, at Martigny take the train to Les Marecottes and then the bus to Van d’en Haut b225 to arrive at 10h00. Day pass needed here.

You can also find the route below on our Komoot profile. By the way: If you send us an email with your first name and surname to hello@swissmountaingirls.ch we’ll even give you a Komoot region pack of your choice!

 

How to sign up

To register, please complete the form below. Please note that your registration is binding. Places are limited to a maximum of 10 – “first come first serve” 😉 After your registration you will receive a confirmation and a message from the organizer as soon as possible.

IMPORTANT: If you are unexpectedly unable to attend, please let us know by 28th of August at the latest so that we can give others on the waiting list the opportunity to come along. Participants who cancel at short notice will be excluded from future events. We strive to offer our events free of charge and invest a lot of our free time in these events (we all work on a voluntary basis), but have unfortunately experienced many no-shows/no-answers or super last-minute cancellations in recent years, which is demotivating for the organisers. That’s why we had to establish this rule.

Liability disclaimer / Please note

The hike is free of charge, but our organisers are always happy to receive a small tip via TWINT for their voluntary work (it takes about three days to organise and run a hike). The number will be announced after registration and you will be invited to a Whatsapp group. Food and drink are not included in our hikes and you must bring your own. Participation is at your own risk and responsibility, as we are only a volunteer community of friends and not an official tour operator. You will therefore be asked to confirm a disclaimer below. You can also find more information in our FAQ.

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Introduction “Hiking in Switzerland” (online) on April 23rd

13. April 2025

The hiking season is just around the corner and you’re already looking forward to your first tours? But aren’t quite sure how to plan them yet? This year, we are again offering an online info call on the topic of “Hiking in Switzerland” – on 17 April at 7 pm in German and on 23 April at 7 pm in English. We will be sharing our knowledge on topics such as route planning, weather apps and packing lists.

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