The Vallée de la Clarée is a scenic valley in the

French Alps The French Alps are the portions of the Alps mountain range that stand within France, located in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regions. While some of the ranges of the French Alps are entirely in France, others, such as ...

near to

Montgenèvre Montgenèvre (; oc, Montginebre; Italian: ''Monginevro'') is a commune on the Italian border in the Hautes-Alpes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southeastern France. In 2018, it had a population of 456. Geography Mon ...

Briançon Briançon (, ) is the sole Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Hautes-Alpes Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region in Southeastern France. It is the highest city in France at an a ...

and the French-Italian border. The

Clarée The Clarée is a river in southeastern France, a right tributary to the Durance. It is long. Its drainage basin is .Massif des Cerces The massif des Cerces is a region of the French Alps on the Franco-Italian border. On the French side it lies in the departements of Hautes-Alpes and Savoie. The massif consists of smaller mountain chains including Mont Thabor as well as those of ...

. To the west they are between 2800 and 2900m high, while on the east side they are between 2300 and 2400m high. Consequently, the snow is slow to melt and gives rise to the name of the central commune

Névache Névache (; oc, Nevascha ) is a commune in the Hautes-Alpes department in southeastern France. Geography It is situated in the Vallée de la Clarée. Climate Névache has a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification ''Dfb''). T ...

meaning "snowed". The valley lies at between 1400 and 2000m and contains meadows and larch forest. This alpine situation creates great biological diversity with several different habitats such as flooded soils and

peat Peat (), also known as turf (), is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. The peatland ecosystem covers and is the most efficien ...

. These valleys contain 39% of known plant species in the French Alps, and 61% of those in the

arrondissement An arrondissement (, , ) is any of various administrative divisions of France, Belgium, Haiti, certain other Francophone countries, as well as the Netherlands. Europe France The 101 French departments are divided into 342 ''arrondissements' ...

of Briançon. The Vallée de la Clarée and the adjoining Vallée Etroite cover 26,000 hectares and contain famous hiking trails (GR 57, Tour du Mont Thabor, Grande Traversée des Alpes). The valleys are exceptional area in that they have been preserved in their natural state. Agriculture, forestry and the rearing of livestock are still carried out traditionally. Consequently, the valley is one of the most visited parts of the

Hautes-Alpes Hautes-Alpes (; oc, Auts Aups; en, Upper Alps) is a department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of Southeastern France. It is located in the heart of the French Alps, after which it is named. Hautes-Alpes had a population of 141,220 ...

department. Visitors have been estimated at 600,000 visits per year. As a result, and as a result of the campaign led by Émilie Carles, the valleys have been given the status of protected areas since 1992. In the summer the valley is visited by cyclists and walkers and by riders who use the large stables in Les Alberts. The river is used for water sports especially in spring as the snow melts. There are sections of white water, which are used by kayaks and white water rafts. There is a dramatic waterfall at Fontcouverte. The valley in winter is covered in snow, which is enjoyed by many cross-country skiers. There are over 65 km of trails. It has one of the main circuits where the French cross-country team train. Although it is popular for cross-country ski-ing, the valley's protected status has prevented ski-lifts being installed. The valley is famous for its numerous sun-dials.

Access

The valley is accessible by car via the Col de Montgenevre from Briançon in the summer or over the Col de l'Echelle from

Bardonecchia Bardonecchia (; french: Bardonèche or ; pms, Bardonecia ; oc, Bardonescha ) is an Italian town and ''comune'' located in the Metropolitan City of Turin, in the Piedmont region, in the western part of Susa Valley. It grew out of a small village ...

(Italy). In July and August is the highest part of the valley is closed to motorised transport. Only a shuttle is allowed to take tourists to the Refuge de Laval at 2000m.

Places and monuments

300px, Vallée de la Clarée (taken from 3,500 m altitude) * Col de l'Echelle * Le Rosier * Nevache * Plampinet * Val-des-Pres

References

Tourist Office Nevache

Tourist Office - Val-Des-Pres

Geoportail site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vallee de la Claree Landforms of Hautes-Alpes Valleys of France Landforms of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur