Madone de Fenestre: Easy hike to Lacs de Prals

The Chapelle de Madone de Fenestre (1904 m) is a good starting point for several interesting hikes. The two most popular itineraries comprise the trails to Col de Fenestre at the Italian border, and Lacs de Prals southeast of the sanctuary.

The network of trails around Madone de Fenestre allows you to tailor-make your hike.

The Prals Lakes consist of 5 lakes in a basin at about 2200 m elevation, surrounded by majestic peaks. From Madone, the lakes can be reached from the north, along the trail along Vallon du Ponset, or as we did this time, from signpost #361 (1820 m) below Madone de Fenestre.

We ascended along a good trail familiar to us along Vallon de Prals, passing signpost #362, then 363. We came to a vast alpine meadow called Plan de Prals and continued to signpost #364 and a crossroads. From here, you can head directly to the lakes by taking the left-hand trail. We continued straight towards Baisse de Prals. However, just before reaching this mountain pass, we forked left along a good trail that was marked with a cairn at the crossroads. The direction was straight towards the lakes. In places, we had to negotiate rocky parts of the trail, but reached the upper smaller lake soon enough.

We felt that for a moderate effort we got great views, and the atmosphere of high mountain summits. It is simply stunning every time! This detour was much less used compared with the main artery to the lakes.

Needless to say, Lacs de Prals was a perfect spot for picnic for us and numerous other mountain lovers.

We headed back along the main trail to signpost #364, thus closing our little extra loop. We then took the same trail back to our starting point.

Duration: 3h 30

Elevation gain: 470 m