Classic hut-to-hut routes · France

GR54, Tour des Écrins

The circuit of the Écrins massif, the quiet cousin of the Tour du Mont Blanc: harder, emptier, and with more ascent than any other route here.

Distance
~176 km
Days
12–13
Total ascent
~12,800 m
High point
Col de la Muzelle, 2,613 m
Season
late June to September

The GR54 circles the Écrins, the second national park of the French Alps after the Vanoise and the one most walkers have never heard of. It is often called the harder Tour du Mont Blanc: similar length, more climbing, fewer people, and villages that still feel like villages.

The passes are high and the valleys deep, so the daily ascent is relentless. The refuges are spread thinner than on the Mont Blanc loop and several stages end in hamlets with a gîte rather than a hut. Carry a little more food and book the few refuges that sit on the passes.

Who it suits
Level: ExperiencedWalkers who have done the Tour du Mont Blanc and want the same length with the crowds taken away.
The nights
Refuges on the high stages, gîtes d'étape and small hotels in the valley hamlets; wild camping is restricted inside the park.

Stage points and the shelters near them

Published path grades around the stage points run T1 to T6, from 10 of 10 stages. That describes the terrain there, not the exact line of the route. A via ferrata grade appears somewhere along it.

31 shelters within 4 km of the stage points, from the shelter table. Distances are from the stage point, not walking distances.

  1. 01Le Bourg-d'Oisans

  2. 02La Grave

  3. 03Le Monêtier-les-Bains

    No shelter in our table within 4 km of Le Monêtier-les-Bains; this stage usually ends in a village or a private inn.

  4. 04Vallouise

  5. 05Refuge du Pré de la Chaumette

  6. 06La Chapelle-en-Valgaudemar

  7. 07Le Désert-en-Valjouffrey

  8. 08Valsenestre

  9. 09Refuge de la Muzelle

  10. 10Vénosc

How booking works

Alpine Club huts on this route take reservations through hut-reservation.org, the shared system of the German, Austrian and Swiss clubs. We link straight to it and earn nothing from a hut booking.

Members of any Alpine Club pay a reduced rate at all club huts, whichever club they joined, and membership usually includes mountain rescue cover. On a week of hut nights it pays for itself. Join the SAC

Plan GR54, Tour des Écrins around my datesOpens the planner with this route's area and length filled in.

Common questions

Every answer below is counted from the 31 shelters our table holds along this route. Where a shelter does not state something, it is counted as not stated rather than assumed.

How long is GR54, Tour des Écrins, and how many days does it take?
About 176 km, usually walked in 12–13 days. Total ascent is around 12,800 m. The highest point on the route is Col de la Muzelle, at 2,613 m.
When can you walk it?
The season is late June to September. Of the 31 shelters along the way, 1 publish when a warden is present, and the most common season among them is June to September, stated by 1 of them.
Where do you sleep?
In 31 shelters within 4 km of the stage points, of which 31 are run by an Alpine Club. 0 of them can be booked online through the clubs' own system; the rest take a phone call, and every number we hold is on the shelter's own page.
Do you need to book ahead?
0 of the 31 shelters state that a reservation is required and 0 that it is recommended. The other 31 do not say either way, which is not the same as saying no.
What if you arrive out of season?
1 of the 31 shelters state that a winter room is left open. That is a room, not a service: no warden, no meals, and you carry what you need.
What is the highest place you sleep?
The highest shelter we hold on this route is Cabane des Parisiens, at 2,696 m.

Other classic routes

Distance, days, ascent, high point and season are approximate and taken from Wikipedia, GR 54. Shelters from refuges.info (©Les contributeurs de Refuges.info, CC BY-SA 2.0 FR) and OpenStreetMap (ODbL).