L’Ourson

L’Ourson campsite is in Entremont-le-Vieux, in Savoie, in the heart of the Chartreuse massif, at 830 m altitude at the foot of high limestone cliffs. It covers about one hectare, between Chambéry and Grenoble, a hundred metres from the hamlet of Le Désert. The manager describes a place halfway between a campsite and a mountain hut: forest atmosphere, shared communal areas and few people.

The site has around twenty pitches for tents, caravans and motorhomes (vehicles limited to 6.50 m and 3.5 t), a bivouac spot reserved for hikers passing through on the Chartreuse traverse, two canvas lodges (for 2 and 5 people) and four wooden chalets from the region, with 5 to 7 beds. The place is designed for young children and follows very ecological management: unmown areas, nest boxes, no weedkiller.

The website says it is open 365 days a year. The chalets are insulated and heated and are rented in winter with rates published up to March; in the cold season, some pitches are cleared of snow when conditions allow, with suitable equipment recommended. The washrooms are heated if needed and the common room lets guests cook and eat in the warm. The motorhome service point works all year round. The 2-person lodge, however, is not heated.

Off-season, the campsite suits families on ski or snowshoe holidays, hikers and weekends in a chalet, with no evening entertainment.

Snowshoeing, alpine skiing at Le Granier, Le Désert and Le Planolet, cross-country skiing at Le Désert d’Entremont, sledding on the site.

The service relies on shared facilities rather than a commercial offer. The large common room has an equipped kitchen, a dining room and a lounge corner with a library, open to all campers; you prepare your meals there in the warm when it is cold. A cloakroom takes hiking boots, skis and overalls, and the campsite lends fondue and raclette sets, very useful in the mountains. A washing and ironing area completes the picture.

For families, the site provides a bathroom for babies, high chairs, baby carriers, a bottle warmer and play mats, as well as toys, small bikes and sledges. The washrooms have solar-heated hot water, cubicles with hairdryers and a washroom with a toilet for disabled guests; they are heated if necessary. The free wifi covers the first pitches and the common room, and you can charge your phone at reception.

Campers have a free-access service point for emptying and filling, usable all year round. Café de la Plage, where you can have breakfast, local drinks and artisan ice cream, operates in summer only. An agricultural cooperative, a bakery and a bookshop are about 100 m away, in the village. There is no pool on site: water is found in the nearby stream, then in the lakes of Aix-les-Bains and Aiguebelette for summer swimming. A dog boarding service exists nearby.

On site, there is a tennis court, a football pitch, a pétanque area, a volleyball net, badminton, a ping-pong table and swings; in winter, sledding takes over. An ethnobotanical garden devoted to the edible wild plants of the Chartreuse offers tastings and activities, and the campsite lends magnifying glasses, binoculars and identification sheets for watching birds, insects and small creatures of the stream. There is no evening entertainment, to preserve the quiet.

Around the site, the mountains offer many routes: walks, hikes, a stage of the GR 9 on the Chartreuse traverse, orienteering courses, mountain biking, electric bike hire, climbing, via ferrata, caving, canyoning and treetop adventure courses. You can also fish in the river, visit the Saint-Même waterfalls, the caves, the old villages, the Bear Museum and the Carthusian monks’ museum, or go as far as the Chartreuse liqueur cellars.

In winter, snowshoes are strapped on from the marked trails. Alpine skiing is available at Le Granier, Le Désert and Le Planolet, and the Le Désert d’Entremont cross-country site is very close. The campsite also mentions spa baths in the region and the tourist office’s programme of events, as well as village markets.