Summer
The Rival forest, from 1,300 m up to the Col du Mollard
Conifers, waterfalls, mountain streams and wildlife: the Rival forest runs from the Collet d'en Haut up to the Col du Mollard, crossed by footpaths and mountain-bike trails.
The Rival forest climbs from 1,300 metres up to the Col du Mollard at 2,000 metres. Seven hundred metres of conifers, waterfalls and streams, crossed by footpaths and mountain-bike trails — and home to wildlife you genuinely meet.
Where it is
The forest spreads across several hamlets of the commune of Albiez-Montrond. It starts at the Collet d'en Haut and rises to the Col du Mollard, passing La Colonne, Le Fregny, La Villette and the village centre.
In practice, it is the forest you drive through on the way up to the resort: you skirt it without really looking at it, when it deserves an outing of its own.
What you see
It is mainly made up of conifers, but it also holds a few waterfalls, and several streams cross it around La Colonne and La Villette.
As for wildlife, the list is long and the encounters real:
- Red deer and hinds
- Roe deer
- Squirrels
- Foxes
It is also full of mushrooms — in season you mostly meet locals, basket in hand and admirably discreet about their spots.
In summer, herds of cattle graze its clearings. That is also where the valley's constant soundtrack of cowbells comes from.
Getting through it
Several walking paths and mountain-bike trails cross the forest. It can be walked in any season.
One precaution: watch out for falling branches and trees, particularly after high winds or heavy snowfall. This is a mountain forest, not a managed park.
When to go
- Spring: the streams are full and the waterfalls at their best.
- Summer: the shade of the conifers is precious when the plateau is baking, and the clearings hold the herds.
- Autumn: mushrooms, colour, and the roar of rutting stags.
- Winter: on snowshoes, sticking to the waymarked routes.
Going with a guide
Yves Vionnet, a mountain leader based in Albiez, runs guided outings on the wildlife, the plants and the local heritage — and he works all year round, off-season included. That is what turns a forest into a landscape you can read.
Albiez Randonnée Patrimoine — Yves Vionnet
albiezrandopatrimoine.com
See also six waymarked walks from Albiez-Montrond and the summer page.
Read next
- Trail de l'Étendard and the Espace Trail des Aiguilles d'ArvesThe race route also exists as a permanent waymarked trail: you can run it all summer, without a number.
- Tradi'Cimes, the traditional festival of Albiez-MontrondTwo festivals in a fortnight in a village of 300 people — and this one costs nothing.
- Cross Triathlon and Swimrun des Aiguilles d'Arves, at the Albiez lakeFour age brackets, four distances, the same lake — and a race that lasts a day when the week is still yours.