Here are 25 images and a short video from a hike to Lac d’Allos, the largest high altitude alpine lake in Europe, which sits in an impossibly beautiful setting at an edge of Mercanour National Park in southeast France.

We made the hike on a Friday during the first week of June, which is still considered off season in this corner of the country’s third largest national park (not counting those located in overseas territories). We weren’t entirely alone but it was pleasantly unbusy, both along the trails and in the village of Allos, where many of the restaurants and shops don’t kick back into full gear until July.

The trailhead is at the Laus parking area (accessible from May through October), about a 30-minute drive from the village. (Note for winter visitors: Cluite is the next closest parking lot, which will extend the hike to about five hours out and back, and will likely be the route taken by snowshoe-ers.)

The hike to the lake, which has a moderate 250m elevation gain, takes less than an hour from the parking area and is picturesque from the start, passing through meadows and forests with mountain vistas in most directions before opening up to to this vast turquoise scene.

The lake sits at an elevation of 2230m ( ft), covers about 60 hectares (148 acres) and has a depth of 50m (164 ft). It’s also cold; there were still several snow patches along its eastern and southern edges surrounding the stream of icy glacial and snow melt that flows into it. While it may be tempting, swimming is not allowed. Neither is bringing a pet, as per national park rules.

Here’s a 98-second video of the Lac d’Allos Loop, a hike of about an hour, which starts and ends at the Refuge du lac d’Allos, which opened for the season othe weekend after we visited. Sleeping spaces fill quickly, so reservations in advance are a must.

Getting your bearings:

A few more shots at or near the lake:

Birds and wildlife?

Here’s a Northern Wheatear, the only bird I managed a decent shot of. Lifer No. 222!

And here, a couple Alpine Marmots, the heaviest and largest members of the squirrel family, which you will almost certainly encounter several times.

They’re common in the mountain areas of central and southern Europe at elevations between 800m and 3200m (2,600–10,500ft) — here they were plentiful and quite active along the edges and even on the trails. And below the portraits, an Alpine Marmot burrow, which appears to have been recently dug.

The refuge:

We passed through exactly one week before it opened for the season, so a small team was busy preparing for that, thus the full laundry line.

Snow in June?

A little. There were some small patches of snow still visible on the mountains seen from the start of the hike, along with the occasional stream of run-off. The peaks seen here rise between 3000-3200m (9840-10,500 ft). Click to view larger.

And a few info boards.

The first, a geologic history and the second noting some of the creatures you may cross paths with. Fingers crossed for another meeting next time with chamois and ibexes.

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Added to this week’s Lens-Artists Challenge, on the theme of wonder. This week’s host, Sofia, introduces the theme with his quote from Ray Bradbury:

Stuff your eyes with wonder, live as if you’d drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It’s more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories.

Mercantour National Park offers up natural wonders around every turn.

Photos from 5 June 2026; post last updated on 14 June 2026.