Some of my favourite climbs are up to alpine lakes. I didn’t know anything about Lac de Taney, except on a map I could see there was a Col de Taney just before. That was enough for me to go take a look. The climb starts in Vouvry, in the Chablais region of Switzerland. It climbs into the Alps in the opposite side of the valley from Aigle.
I brought my Mountain bike, expecting there might be some unpaved stuff (and there was). The first 9 or 10 kilometres are on a big, fairly quiet, well-surfaced road, with plenty of hairpins and views of the valley below.

A little past the village of Miex, the paved road ends. I got confused and headed up a trail that soon became a hiking path. Far too steep to ride. The path bumped into a gravel road that I somehow had missed below (it is hard to miss, just keep going straight when paved road ends). 😉
This road is truly crazy-steep. I struggled to even pedal much of it, pushing most of the way up. The lake is a little past and below the col. It’s small, surrounded by quite a few chalets, and a restaurant.

The valley is a dead-end. But you can follow a farm road that seems to climb out of the valley high and up to the right (but to follow it would be quite an adventure). I rode it for a while, but as it became super-steep, and the weather looked ominous, I decided to call it a day.

The unpaved part of the descent was too steep and too poor a surface for me to ride – it just seemed dangerous. Be careful here.
I don’t know, it’s an OK lake but I was disappointed by this ride (yes, I know I am spoiled). While this is a nice climb, there are countless better roads nearby. Many are to bigger, more beautiful lakes. For example, Lac de l’Hongrin or Lac d’Emosson.
ColdeTaney
Nice 10km paved climb. Then crazy steep 2+ kms until Col and Lake. Too steep to descend.
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Views
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Quiet / No Traffic
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Difficulty
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Fun Factor