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In Morzine there are many hikes in the summer, but did you know that you can also go hiking during the winter? If you want to hike during the winter season you should prepare yourself with good waterproof hiking boots and maybe some studs for on the shoes. You can easily buy those studs in Decathlon or in Intersport in the center of Morzine.
Some nice hikes you can do during the winter in and near Morzine are:
Another fun way to hike in the snow is to rent some snowshoes. Snowshoeing is a fun thing to do. It’s like hiking but with snowshoes on and a pair of walking sticks. You can easily rent snowshoes at Intersport for around €10 a day including walking sticks. When there is fresh snow, I recommend renting snowshoes, it’s easy to rent online.
Tip: go to the tourist office of Morzine and ask for a free guide with hiking tracks. In the guide you’ll see different hikes and which kind of equipment you need.
Tip: if you go hiking make sure to wear decent hiking shoes. you should also wear layers when you go hiking in the winter so you can easily take a layer off or put a layer on. Bring enough water (I always take my Osprey water bag it’s perfect), snacks, electrolytes for in your water, a rain jacket, gloves, sun protection and bring your walking sticks if you prefer. I also always recommend bringing a headtorch in case you don’t make it back in time and a whistle for safety reasons.
‘Vin chaud’ means hot wine and it’s something you need to try in the French mountains. You can easily bring it up the mountain so you can enjoy your hot wine on the top of the mountain.
All the busses nearby Morzine are free of charge so it’s easy to take the bus! If you want to go further like Les Gets or Saint-Jean-d’Aulps then you need to pay. You’ll find the bus schedule here.
Hike to the waterfalls of Nyon
- Duration: 40 minutes
- Distance: 3.5 km
- Elevation: 87 meters
- Level: easy
From Morzine it’s a small hike to the waterfalls of Nyon. If you start from Bar Robinson and walk towards the water (you don’t cross the water) you go to the right. You need to keep on following the water, sometimes the path is hard to find but there is a path.
It takes around 20 minutes to reach the waterfalls of Nyon. You go the same way back. A perfect small, easy hike to start the day.
Hike to the beautiful Lac de Mines d’Or
- Duration: 1.5 hours
- Distance: 5.5 km
- Elevation: 261 meters
- Level: medium
From Morzine you can easily go to Lac de Mines d’Or. If you go by car then you can park your car near the restaurant ‘Chez Layanne’, there is a lot of free parking on ‘Route de la Manche’ in L’Erigné. In summer you can park your car at the lake but in winter you must hike to the lake. If you don’t have a car, you can take the free bus E from Morzine to L’Erigné Devant.
Near this restaurant you will see an Igloo, which is amazing to go inside. When you arrive at the Igloo, you’ll see that there are many snowshoeing tracks and cross-country ski tracks. If you stand in front of the restaurant or the Igloo, then you go to the left and follow the big tracks.
If you stay on the big tracks, you can hike around 40 minutes uphill to get to the lake. You will pass by a restaurant and some signs, keep on following the signs to Lac Mines d’Or (the other way is also a beautiful hike that you can do another time).
When you arrive at the lake you can easily hike around the lake and enjoy the views. Near the lake you will see signs for a restaurant. It’s a nice place to drink something, warm up and enjoy the views. Going down only takes around 30 minutes.
If you want more adventure, then you can rent some snowshoes and hike in the deep snow in and around this area. There are many hiking trails here.
Make sure you always first check the risk for avalanches, you’ll see an information board where the parking is for the cars.
Hike to Chardonière
- Duration: 1.5 hours
- Distance: 5.8 km
- Elevation: 195 meters
- Level: medium
This hike you start from the same point as the hike I described above, the hike to lake de Mines d’Or. When you start hiking on the big hiking track you will pass by a restaurant. After the restaurant you will see a sign. Instead of following the sign to Mines d’Or, you will follow the sign to Chardonière.
Hike from lake Montriond to Ardent
- Duration: 2 hours (walking to Ardent and walking back)
- Distance: 8 km
- Elevation: 205 meters
- Level: medium
You can park your car for free at lake Montriond or you can take the free bus M to lake Montriond. When you arrive at this lake you will be surprised by its beauty. Bring an extra sweater because it can get cold at this lake because it’s almost always in the shade.
You can just walk around the lake which takes around an hour or you can hike all the way to Ardent. When you start at the lake parking lot, and you hike to Ardent it takes around 1 hour and a quarter to reach Ardent. In Ardent you can drink something at Happy Hour and then hike back or you can take the bus back.
For this hike you need to watch out. Normally you can easily hike around the lake but when you hike the direction of Ardent it can get difficult if there is fresh snow. I would recommend doing the hike when it hasn’t been snowing for a while. This makes the hike safer and easier.
Hiking up the Mont Caly
- Duration: 1.5 hours
- Distance: 5 km
- Elevation: 236 meters
- Level: medium
When it’s been a while when new snow has falling then you can hike this with hiking boots. If there is new, fresh snow, I would recommend renting some snowshoes.
You start the hike where you park the car. There is a free parking at close to Chèvrerie des Félires. During the hike you pass by a public toilet and a restaurant. During this hike you get some epic views over the Mount Blanc, the highest mountain of the Alps.
Hike with view over the Mont Chèry
To hike to a view over the Mont Chèry I would recommend renting snowshoes. This hike takes around 1 to 2 hours depending on how far you will go. You can easily hike around with snowshoes, but you need to watch out. When you go snowshoeing you need to take a map with you because it’s not always easy to find the route. If you don’t feel safe hiking with snowshoes in the deep snow you can always hire a guide. For Mont Chèry you can park your car at Parking de l’Encrenaz and hike the direction of Col de la Basse (across the street from the parking).
Normally these 6 hikes are good to hike on yourself. Only the hike with a view over Mont Chèry can be tricky. You can always go snowshoeing with a guide to go on more adventurous hikes. They can take you to more advanced places which I would recommend doing with a guide because with the snow and the mountains you always must be careful.
Now that you’ve tried these hikes in winter, why not try them in summer? In the meantime you can also read about 3 summer hikes near Saint-Jean-d’Aulps to get inspired. But don’t wear your winter gear or you’ll be sweating a lot!
