Lac de l'Eychauda, Mountain lake in Vallouise-Pelvoux, France

Lac de l'Eychauda is a high-altitude body of water in the Écrins massif, set within rocky slopes above Vallouise-Pelvoux. Its surface often shows a milky color from glacial melt, and in late summer small chunks of ice can still drift near the shore.

The lake formed as the Séguret Foran glacier retreated, leaving a glacial cirque hollowed into soft black schists; its granite sill holds the water. It already existed at the end of the Little Ice Age in the mid-19th century. In 1886 the Briançonnais painter and abbé Laurent Guétal made it the subject of a celebrated canvas of the Dauphinois school; his pupil Charles Bertier later painted its thaw.

The lake's name appears in the title of Laurent Guétal's 1886 painting Le lac de l'Eychauda, one of the best-known works of the Dauphinois school; his pupil Charles Bertier painted Le Dégel du lac de l'Eychauda in homage, and Charles-Henri Contencin (1898–1955) also painted the site. The GR 54 long-distance trail, the Tour de l'Oisans, runs past the water.

The usual route starts at the hamlet of Chambran (1,719 m) and climbs the Eychauda valley to the lake at 2,514 m. To avoid retracing the same path, continue over the Col des Grangettes (2,684 m) and the Col de l'Eychauda (2,425 m) to make a loop. The GR 54 long-distance trail runs past the lake.

Even in the middle of August, floating pieces of ice can linger on the water, fed by nearby glacier remnants. Walkers sometimes hear a soft clinking as small chunks bump together at the edge before melting away.