La Motte-En-Champsaur: Holiday Apartments and Houses

La Motte-en-Champsaur lies in the Séveraissette Valley, which leads from the Bocage des Champsaur to the high mountains with the 3,163 m-high Vieux Chaillol peak. Almost one third of the municipality lies in the core zone of Écrins National Park, entirely on state-owned land. The landscape is characterised by deep wooded gorges, a dry and sunny south-facing slope, and crystalline and sedimentary rocks.

Anyone wishing to rent a holiday apartment in La Motte-en-Champsaur is planning accommodation in this village. Marked hiking trails lead through the wild valleys of La Motte-en-Champsaur; there is also a marked route reserved for mountain biking and horse riding.

Hiking

The hike to Col de Font Froide is a difficult 15.3 km circular route starting from La Motte-en-Champsaur, with a walking time of 8 hours and 1,313 m of elevation gain. The Col de Font Froide trail leads from the hamlet of Molines over the impressive rocky glacier of Font Froide into a high-mountain landscape.

The Chemin du Roy is a very easy 7.2 km circular hike starting from La Motte-en-Champsaur, with a walking time of 2 hours and 30 minutes and 168 m of elevation gain. It runs along a mountain stream through the valley to the ruins of the hamlet of Roy.

Peyron Roux is a moderate 5.4 km circular hike starting from La Motte-en-Champsaur, with a walking time of 2 hours and 30 minutes and 380 m of elevation gain. The hike is suitable for families and leads from the hamlet of Molines to the Peyron Roux forest hut; there are waterfalls around the hut. Molines-en-Champsaur is also a starting point for numerous hikes.

The La source des Fontettes trail runs through a high-mountain landscape along the Torrent des Pins mountain stream.

Culture and History

Château Barthélémy consists of two adjoining sections: a château section dated 1590 and an attached farm section from the early 19th century. Château Barthélémy in La Motte-en-Champsaur is considered to have been a notary's residence; the estate was probably converted into a farm during the French Revolution.

The communal bread oven in Molines is a building probably dating from the 18th or early 19th century that was used for communal bread baking. The abandoned hamlets of Sellon, Londonnière, Boyers and Roy bear witness to the former settlement of the Séveraissette Valley.

The exhibition “Molines-en-Champsaur, hier, aujourd'hui et demain” was open to the public at the Maison Nouguier in Molines.

Other destinations: Montbrand, Val-Des-Prés, Rochebrune, Freissinières, Saint-Bonnet-En-Champsaur, Saint-Léger-Les-Mélèzes, Risoul, Aiguilles

For the higher-level travel overview: Hautes-Alpes.