Étang des Bésines and its refuge

0h00 - PARKING (1,400 m). Enter the village via the main alleyway, around the corner from the town hall. After parking, walk past the gîte d'étape, then turn left onto the footpath (GR107, red and white markings) which rises to reach the RN22, which you cross and follow to the right. After about 50 m, turn left onto a traverse that climbs the embankment. After two hairpin bends, the path rises slowly on the mountainside to the north-east.
0h45 - INTERSECTION 1 (1,600 m). Ignore the GR107 which heads for the Col de Puymorens, and continue straight ahead along its variant. Follow the red and white markings. The path leaves the wood to thread its way through the rhododendrons of the Bessateil jasse, then re-enters the trees to climb more steeply.
1h55 - PLATEFORME (1,935 m). Follow to the left the platform of an old railroad track used to build the Bésines dam.
2h10 - BARRAGE DES BESINES (1,980 m). Follow the lake to the right.
2:30 - JASSE DU PLA (2,000 m). Here you can either sit back and enjoy a picnic on the banks of the lake, or continue on to the refuge des Bésines and explore the valley in greater depth. To do this, head east along a path that runs alongside the étang des Bésines and leads to a flat area. After passing the pond, the path climbs up to reach the refuge des Bésines (2104m) in 30 minutes.
The return journey takes the same route.