The Mont Avic lakes and the Barbustel hut

Aosta Valley's first park, and its autumn lakes.

Mont Avic looks nothing like the rest of the Aosta Valley. No vast glaciers, no postcard walls: a quiet side valley covered in forests that have all but vanished from the western Alps — mountain pine woods, and protecting them is part of why this park was created in 1989, the first in the region.

We climb from Champdepraz through the forest, water heard before it is seen. Then the trees open and the lakes begin, small mirrors set between rocky humps, each a different colour depending on the light. Lago Bianco is the widest, and the Barbustel hut sits on its shore — the right place to drop the pack and warm up.

In October this valley becomes something else. The larches turn all at once and for a fortnight the slope glows orange from the valley floor to the treeline, lakes below and fresh snow above.

And the wildlife is no brochure promise: chamois and ibex really are there, often without looking for them.

5 reasons to come

• the Aosta Valley's first nature park, still quiet
• a handful of alpine lakes in a single loop
• mountain pine forests, rare in the western Alps
• a stop at the Barbustel hut on the shore of Lago Bianco
• in October, one of the finest displays of autumn colour in the Alps

Who it suits

Anyone who walks regularly: no technical ground, but 900 m of ascent and five and a half hours to reckon with. Good for families with children already used to walking.