Pont d'Espagne and Lac de Gaube

Above the spa town of Cauterets, two mountain torrents meet in a mess of white water under an old stone bridge, and that junction, the Pont d'Espagne, is where the Pyrenees National Park effectively begins. From the car park a gondola and chairlift, or a good hour of walking through pine, take you up to Lac de Gaube at 1,725 metres: a cold, dark lake in a granite bowl with the north face of the Vignemale closing the head of the valley. At 3,298 metres it is the highest summit on the French side of the range, and it still carries a glacier, thinner each decade. Beyond the lake the path keeps going to a refuge.

What you actually see

• The Pont d'Espagne cascade - two torrents meeting in spray under an old stone bridge.
• Lac de Gaube - a cold dark lake at 1,725 metres held in a granite bowl.
• The Vignemale - the 3,298-metre north face at the head of the valley, with its glacier.
• Marmots - whistling from the boulder fields along the path above the treeline.

When to go

June to October. Snow lingers on the upper paths into early summer and the lake can stay part-frozen late. The lifts run in the summer season only and shut in the shoulder months, so do not build a plan around them without checking. Arrive before nine in August or the car park will be full. Beech and pine colour comes in October.

Honest expectations

This is the busiest corner of the national park, and in August the path to the lake is a slow procession. Parking is charged and full by mid-morning. The lift is a short cut rather than a scenic ride, and it does not reach the lake itself. Weather turns fast and cold at that height, and past the lake it becomes proper mountain walking.

Nearby

Cauterets and its thermal baths lie below; the Cirque de Gavarnie is over the ridge to the east.