Lago Pellaud

A short walk from the village of Rhêmes-Notre-Dame, Lago Pellaud sits among larch and red fir with the Granta Parey massif above. Its clear water shelters trout and cold-water frogs, and a path continues toward the wetland of Pellaud superiore.

Why it matters

Fondation Grand Paradis, the foundation that presents the natural and cultural sites of the park's Aosta Valley side, names Lago Pellaud among the most striking areas of the Val di Rhêmes. The lake condenses what this valley offers: clear water ringed by conifers, grazing slopes, and the bulk of Granta Parey above. The lake's shore opens toward the wilder landscape of the Entrelor pass.

What to notice

Larches and red firs close around the water; the Fondation calls this shade the lake's small great secret, because it keeps the water cold enough for trout and for the frogs that breed in temporary waters. Pellaud superiore is a wetland framed by the rock walls of Colle dell'Entrelor. Nearby stands the old mill, converted in 1921 into the valley's first hydroelectric plant, an early piece of mountain engineering folded quietly into the landscape. The lake's appearance shifts with the seasons: vivid green in summer, yellow and red in autumn, white and silent under snow, and the sound of thaw in spring.

Context and history

The lake lies by the hamlet of Pellaud, one of the hamlets of a commune that the valley tourist board lists alongside Artalle, Bruil, Chanavey and others. Rhêmes-Notre-Dame itself sits at 1,723 metres in a sunny basin of pastures and woods, beneath the 3,387-metre Granta Parey, which dominates the valley's upper skyline. The 1921 conversion of the mill into the valley's first hydroelectric plant marks how early this small community wired itself to modern energy, decades before mass tourism arrived. The lake's setting reflects the long relationship between the hamlets, their working landscape and the surrounding alpine environment.