An image of Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc winner Kilian Jornet in Chamonix 2009

An image of runners about the start the marathon in Chamonix Mont Blanc

An image of runners with finishers medals for the marathon in Chamonix Mont Blanc

Running in Chamonix

Discover the top Chamonix trails and races

Updated 29 April 2025

The terrain in Chamonix lends itself perfectly to trail running with the stunning scenery, hundreds of MTB free routes, some fairly significant height gains and a near year-round lift network to get you to new stomping grounds.

A selection of Chamonix trail running routes for can be found here, although in reality the number of routes and permutations are endless.

Walking trails and routes

Some routes have been waymarked and graded, they are of various lengths and are reserved only for trail runners.

Here are some of the map routes and details for trail access. They are graded S (small), M (medium) and L (large) which takes into account the length, technical difficulty of the trail and metres ascent and descent.

Type of route	Link
Circuit	Argentiere - Le Tour - Tre le Champ
Circuit	Chamonix - Floria cafe - Les Praz
Traverse	Servoz - Vaudagne - Les Houches
Circuit	Vallorcine - Les Mayens - les Parts

S routes - lasting between one and two hours

Type of route	Link
Circuit	Les Chosalets - Le Lavancher - Alpage de la Pendant
Circuit	Les Houches - Plan de la Cry - Merlet
Circuit	Servoz - Les Ayeres - Lac Vert
Circuit	Vallorcine - Berard Valley - Loriaz refuge

M routes - lasting between two and four hours

Type of route	Link
Circuit	Montroc - Catogne - Aiguillettes des Posettes
Circuit	Les Gaillands - Aiguillette des Houches - Brevent
Traverse	Servoz - Le Prarion - Mont Lachat - Les Houches
Circuit	Vallorcine - Col du Passet - Aiguillettes Parrees
Traverse	Vallorcine - Col de Salenton - Servoz

L route - lasting between four and eight hours

There are of course plenty of walking trails that are also great for running so make sure you check those out too.

Walking Routes in Chamonix

Best trail running clothing and equipment

Refuges and huts

There are plenty of refuges dotted around the Mont Blanc Massif that are perfect for staying the night. However, if you are running you may not want to be held back with carrying extra weight so a 'hut to hut' approach is possibly not what you're looking for. You may however be interested to start your run from a different point and staying the night before in a hut could work well for you.

Book Mountain Hut

The north face ultra trail du mont blanc is being held in france

Races and events

Chamonix is also known for the array of world class running events that it hosts every year.

The running season kicks off with the Mont Blanc Marathon weekend which features the Marathon, the Ultra, the Cross, the 10k and the Vertical K plus a couple of other events.

At the end of August the infamous Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc brings in world class runners from around the globe to compete in a number of ultras, ranging from 96km to 300km.

The Trail des Aiguilles Rouges finishes the season in September, another ultra marathon but this time more popular amongst the local trail runners.

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