We hiked along one of the famous irrigation channels in Valais called the Bisses. They are the symbols of the Walliser struggle for the control of water at an altitude of 1'500 meters.
We planned to explore a bit more of Valais on Sunday and since the weather was warm we decided to try one of the bisses in Valais. "Bisses were born from the peasant class willingness to escape the consequences of dryness and to be able to collect water in the rivers and torrents, to deviate them artificially on the slopes through the sides of the mountains and adapt the canals to the tormented relief and the type of ground, sometimes rocky, sometimes soft or crumbly."(https://siontourisme.ch).
We hadn’t heard of this series of walks before but it’s opened up a whole new range of walking options not far from home :-)
Since we were nearby visiting the gorges, we decided to start with the Bisses du Trient. We had read that the Col de la Forclaz is a good starting point and we’re fortunate to find a place to park as the whole area was very busy.
We set off along the path following the signs which took us past cows grazing in the sunshine and a stunning suspended walkway before we began the more covered part of the walk. It’s a lovely trail with beautiful views, wild flowers and the bisse running alongside.
It’s a very easy walk and we saw people with pushchairs and wheelchairs so suitable for all. We would just say that you need to keep an eye on smaller hikers as there were a few places with unrestricted steep drops which looked dangerous.
The bisse du Trient path wasn’t very long and we were finished in about 40minutes but it was a beautiful walk and easily manageable before the children got tired. You can go further on this path and go back to Trient but the heat told us to walk back to the car. We are already impatient to try our next bisse walk.
Information
Parking : Yes (very busy the weekend)
Toilets : Yes (in the car-park)
Accessibility : Accessible for all
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