Juclar lakes, the walk to Andorra's biggest lake

If you’re only going to walk up to one high mountain lake in Andorra, I’d make it Juclar. It isn’t the easiest, nor the one that fills Instagram, but it has what I want from this kind of day, a reasonable effort, scenery that changes every stretch and, at the top, the country’s biggest lake with a hut beside it.

Two lakes at the head of Incles

The Juclar lakes lie at the far end of the Incles valley, in Canillo parish. There are two, the Estany Primer and the Estany Segon, and the first, at 21 hectares, is according to Andorra Turisme the largest lake in Andorra. Above them rises the Pic Negre de Juclar.

The Pyrenean newt lives in its water, an amphibian that, as Andorra Turisme explains, only survives in very pure, clear lakes. I can’t think of a better quality certificate. It’s also a reminder that this is a protected, fragile place rather than a picnic spot, which shapes a couple of the tips further down.

The route, stage by stage

The official walk starts at km 3 of the narrow Incles road, just past the Baladosa bridge. First you follow a forest track across the Incles river, between dry-stone walls, mountain pines and alpenrose. At the Travenc junction you take the left-hand path, past a picnic area.

Then you climb the sunny side of the valley and cross the river again. From there it steepens up to the Pleta de Juclar, crosses the Juclar stream once more and arrives at the Estany Primer. Carry on south-east and you reach the hut. A path waymarked with three yellow dots skirts the first lake and leads to the second. You come back the same way.

How long does it take and how hard is it?

Andorra Turisme gives 4.57 km and 465 m of ascent, with 2 h 10 up and 1 h 40 down, and grades it moderate. No scrambling, but you’ll need decent legs, especially for the last pull before the Pleta. With small children or anyone unused to walking, I’d stick to the Obac path on the floor of the same valley.

The season runs from late June to late September, which is what Andorra Turisme advises for anything above 1,700 m. If weather and snow allow, it can stretch from May to October, but outside summer I’d check at Canillo tourist office first. Britons should also bear in mind that Andorra sits outside the GHIC scheme, so travel insurance with hillwalking cover is essential here.

Reaching the start in summer

This is what trips most people up. For most of the summer, roughly the second half of June to the first days of September, cars stop at the Incles barrier and you park there. Then it’s either the little electric train, every 20 minutes in 2025, or your own feet. Either way, add that time to the walk itself, and bear in mind the last train down in 2025 left at 17:30.

Outside that window you can drive to the start. In winter, with snow, Juclar stops being a hillwalk and becomes serious winter mountain terrain, which is beyond this page.

What I’d carry

It’s a half-day walk, but it’s high mountain country, and Canillo’s own official bridge site sums up the parish well, with changeable weather and a need for proper mountain clothing and footwear. I’d take water from the bottom, a warm layer even in August, a hat and sun cream, and boots with a sole that grips, because there are rocky sections and several river crossings.

And one request. The Pyrenean newt lives in that water because it’s clean, so no swimming in sun cream and no washing up in the lake. If you bring a dog, keep it out of the water.

Sleeping at the Juclar hut

According to Canillo council, the Juclar hut has 50 places at 2,310 m and a warden serving meals between 1 June and 30 September. It’s one of the few staffed huts in the country and, for me, the best way to see the lake in evening and dawn light without the day crowds. The others are covered in mountain huts Andorra.

If Juclar leaves you wanting more, there are other high lakes in other parishes, which I compare in lakes in Andorra. For something shorter with no climb, Engolasters lake is, in Andorra Turisme’s words, the most accessible in the country.