Cros d'Utelle Hike Photo Gallery

1/15. The main Vésubie Valley road D2565, below the hamlet of Cros d'Utelle. Looking southwest down the Vésubie from a few minutes into the hike.

2/15. The small white church of Cros d'Utelle. Hiking borne #3 is near the front of the church.

3/15. Hikers on the Cros d'Utelle trail. About an hour from the hamlet, with the trail an impressive (but safe) cutting along the west side of the Gorges de la Vésubie.

4/15. 'Steps' up the mountain side on the Cros d'Utelle trail. It's not as scary as the photo implies. The dropoff isn't vertical, and the trail is fairly wide.

5/15. The Chapelle Saint-Antoine. A quiet resting spot on the Cros d'Utelle trail. There was once an entire village here; now just stone walls lost in the brush.

6/15. The Sanctuaire de la Madone d'Utelle, viewed from the lookout point (table d'orientation). Yes, you can get here by car or bike, but where's the fun in that.

7/15. Three hikers trudging up the exposed, zig-zag trail to the Crête de la Madone [borne 118 to 117]. While we sit patiently at the top.

8/15. Sanctuaire de la Madone d'Utelle. An ancient building, an old iron cross, and modern jet airliners filling the sky with contrails.

9/15. Cime du Diament, northwest of us at the Sanctuaire de la Madone d'Utelle, and west of the village of Utelle.

10/15. Borne 117 at the Crête de la Madone, looking south. At the right edge of the photo is the lookout point on the ridge.

11/15. Part of the Cros d'Utelle loop trail. Most of the trail is well shaded.

12/15. Borne #105 on the Cros d'Utelle hike. The trail heads south, past a lonely shepherd's hut.

13/15. The 'suburbs' of Cros d'Utelle hamlet. The marked trail coming down over this loose rocky material is a bit tricky.

14/15. The village of Utelle, perched above the Vésubie valley, and well below the Sanctuaire de la Madone d'Utelle.

15/15. Hiking map Cros-d'Utelle - Madone d'Utelle.