Lago d'Arpy (Lac d'Arpy)

Beneath the pastures of the Vallone d'Arpy, Lake Arpy fills a shallow basin at 2,071 metres on the south side of the Mont Blanc massif. A trail connects it with Colle San Carlo, and its water is framed by conifers and high grassland.

Why it matters

Lake Arpy is a glacial lake in the Vallone d'Arpy, with the snow-and-rock line of the Mont Blanc massif on the horizon. Its setting away from the Val Veny and Val Ferret corridors gives it a quieter character than the better-known valleys.

What to notice

The trail to the lake passes through fir and larch woodland before opening onto the wide, shallow basin. Its colour shifts with cloud and glacial sediment. The lake lies among Mont Charvet, Becca Pouegnenta and Monte Colmet, glacially carved summits on the massif's southern flank. The Tête d'Arpy belvedere gives a broader panorama over the massif. Seasonal changes are visible at the shore, from late snow patches to the golden larch foliage of autumn.

Context and history

The lake lies in the territory of Morgex, a wine town on the Dora Baltea whose upper valleys have long been grazed summer pastures. Colle San Carlo, at 1,858 metres on the road linking Morgex with La Thuile, sits in the old crossing country of the Valdigne, away from the motor traffic that concentrates on the Great and Little St Bernard passes. Today the basin is managed as protected natural area within the regional system, so the shoreline has remained free of development: no road, no buildings, just pasture, peat margins and forest. The regional tourism portal records the route as part of the area's hiking network.