Motôt / Grande-Dixence Dam

The road runs up the Val d'Hérémence via Pralong (1,608 m/5,276ft) to Motôt (1,925 m/6,316ft), with a parking place (1,970 m/6,464ft). From here it is a two-hour walk (also private road, 5.5km/3mi) to the Grande-Dixence dam (2,365 m/7,760ft; completed 1961; 284 m/932ft high; top 748 m/2,454ft long, 15 m/49ft wide, in the Val des Dix. Its water is carried in underground tunnels to the Fionnay power station and beyond this, under pressure, to the main power station at Nendaz in the Rhône valley. At the end of the road, beneath the dam, is a hotel and restaurant with a large park lot. From here a cableway runs up to the lake (motorboat). At the southern end of the lake is an iron suspension bridge.

Prominent among the peaks forming the magnificent mountain setting of the lake are the Rosablanche (3,336 m/10,945ft), Mont Blanc de Cheilon (3,871 m/12,701ft) and the Aiguilles Rouges d'Arolla (3,650 m/11,976ft).

Walks: along the lake (2.5 hours); to the Cabane des Dix (4 hours; by boat two hours); to the Col de Riematten (four hours); to Arolla (six hours).