Taney lake, lake in Valais, Switzerland
Taney Lake is a mountain lake in the commune of Vouvry, in the canton of Valais, sitting at roughly 1,400 meters (about 4,600 feet) above sea level. It occupies a broad, open basin ringed by grassy slopes and stands of conifer, with the Grammont peak and the Col du Taney rising behind it.
The area around the lake was home to people long before written records, as nearby caves contain traces of ancient habitation going back thousands of years. Over time, the site came under formal protection to safeguard its natural setting.
The lake sits in a part of the Valais Alps that locals have long used as summer pasture, and traces of this tradition are still visible around the shore. A small mountain hut near the water offers basic accommodation, giving the place a lived-in, working-mountain feel rather than a purely scenic one.
The lake can only be reached on foot, with the most common starting point being the village of Miex, from which the walk takes roughly two hours through forest and open ground. Good walking shoes are worth wearing, since the path can be slippery in wet conditions.
Taney Lake is one of the few natural mountain lakes in the Valais that has never been modified for hydroelectric use, so its water level and shoreline remain as they always were. This makes it noticeably different from many nearby lakes, whose shores were reshaped when dams were built in the 20th century.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 60,000 contributors worldwide.
