Tré la Tête Glacier by Combe noire Waterfall

A few steps away from the true entrance to the nature reserve, a panel presenting the issues of this protected and regulated natural space.

On your left are located the bogs of La Rosière, but be careful, admire them from the trail because these are fragile habitats with high biodiversity!

Originating from the ice age, this wetland was first a depression eroded by the glacier in which the melting ice stagneted. It’s a paradise for carnivorous plants such as Alpine Butterwort or the Round-leaved Sundew...

Also called "Pont de la Téna", this structure dates back to Roman times! It is located on the ancient strategic route which made it than possible to reach the valley of la Tarentaise and Italy directly from Les Contamines.

This route, which has become the GR5 since, is a popular tourist destination.

The bridge overlooks the gorges of Bont Nant.

Admire the natural pools that the torrent has shaped slowly but surely!

It's the end of summer... It's during this season that the Alpine autumn Crocus flowers. Its name refers to Colchis in Greece, the homeland to the enchantress Medea.

This plant contains a very toxic alkaloid: colchicine. According to alchemists, this substance, used in very low doses, would cure rheumatism and acute flares of gout.

Like a lightning, a silvery silhouette threads its way silently between the branches, accompanied by the alarm calls of tits and wrens... How lucky you are! You observed the Sparrowhawk!
This small diurnal bird of prey, is common but very discreet. It terrorizes passerines, an order including most songbirds, on which it feeds!

It is a predator using a special ‘surprising’ technic to hunt by flying as close as possible to the rock walls or hidden behind obstacles to startle its prey.

Take a break on this bridge and enjoy the cool spray from the Combe Noire waterfall. Can you imagine that the glacier of Tré-la-Tête reached this exact location in 1870! Since then, it has lost a few hundred meters but you can still feel its presence through the torrential river which formed impressive sculptures called "giant's pots" by a deafening eroding process of the rock !

It is a small forest passerine that often lives in the company of its congeners, such as the Black-capped Chickadee or the Willow Tit, because they like the same habitats. Its presence is linked to that of old trees, whether dead wood or aging trees, which are also called "senescent wood". It particularly appreciates softwood forests (spruces, pines and firs). It is a little bundle of energy, lively and in constantly in motion, easy to recognize by its crest. It feeds on small insects, larvae and spiders but also of conifer seeds.

Enjoy this natural belvedere to catch your breath. But be aware that the rock is slippery and the area unsecured!
You overlook the forest and the hamlet of "Combe Noire". Its name refers to the forest cover composed almost exclusively of dark colored spruces.
From this amazing viewpoint, discover the pastures of La Rollaz crossed by the hiking trail. From the left to the right, you can see Roches rouges, Roches franches, Aiguilles de la Pennaz, Col du Bonhomme, Rocher du Bonhomme and at the end Tête Nord des Fours.

It is a predator, armed for hunting! Thanks to large and wide wings, it glides high in the sky in search of prey.
His exceptional view can locate groundhogs (his favorite meal), hares, foxes or ptarmigans and sometimes even young chamois or ibexes!

Its brow line provides a natural sun shield when diving to capture its prey. It is fully equipped for these hunting technics, with claws called talons and a powerful, hooked and sharp beak for shredding flesh.

This giant, whose name means ‘beyond the head’, is the fourth largest French glacier! It is monitored on climate change aspects.

Its health, monitored by the nature Reserve since 2014, is determinated by the volume of ice gained or lost. This is called the mass balance.

8 km long, it spreads its tongue of ice from the mountain pass Infranchissable at the Italian border at 3300m of altitude, to the place where you are standing!