All along the trail, you will find footprints dating back more than 240 million years. The scientific interest of the site is still present and analyzes are still being carried out to determine their exact origins.

In fact, the age of the land is even older than the time of the dinosaurs. The footprints could belong to primitive reptiles: the ancestors of dinosaurs. The footprints are generally visible from mid-July.

https://emosson.ch/activities/sur-les-traces-des-dinosaures

source: https://www.valais.ch/fr/explorer/activites/randonnees/itineraires/sentier-geologique-du-vieux-emosson

Thanks to this geological and panoramic trail, discover the fascinating history of the formation of the Alps. At its terminus is a vast rock slab bearing the footprints of reptiles similar to crocodiles which inhabited the Earth 240 million years ago. The journey leading to the crowning of the Emosson dam, the starting point of the route, is an adventure in itself. You can accomplish it by car or bus, but the route from Le Châtelard (VS) is much more impressive, taking in the three rail attractions of VerticAlp Emosson (closed in 2022). The first is the two-cabin Châtelard funicular, the steepest in the world with its gradient reaching 87%. The Petit Train Panoramique, a narrow gauge line, offers a spectacular view of the deep Bouqui gorges and the Mont Blanc massif. Finally, the two-cabin Minifunic takes you to the crowning point of the dam, at 1965 meters. The Emosson dam was inaugurated in 1976. With its height of 180 meters, it is the third highest structure of this type in Valais and the second in Switzerland in terms of capacity (225 million m3). The hike also allows you to discover the Vieux-Emosson dam, operational since 1955 to provide electricity to the Swiss railway network and whose wall was recently raised by 20 meters as part of a spectacular project carried out in 2019. At the heart of the latter, we find a revolutionary underground hydraulic plant and two wells, surpassing the height of the Eiffel Tower by 100 meters, which ensure the circulation of water between the two reservoir lakes. A huge cavern houses six reversible turbines capable of producing electricity when needed or storing it by pumping water towards the upper lake. This flexibility makes the Nant de Drance plant an ideal complement to green energies, all of which are weather dependent.

Tour Highlights:

• A trio of spectacular railway lines to get to the start of the hike
• A magnificent Alpine landscape – two dams, two reservoirs
• Restaurant/hut at each dam
• The oldest vertebrate footprints in Switzerland

Source: https://www.valleedutrient.ch/fr/sentier-geologique-du-vieux-emosson-fp268

The footprints of Vieux-Emosson , unearthed in 1976, date back more than 240 million years. In 2008, a new discovery by Italian paleontologist Marco Avanzini revived scientific interest in this site. A track on a detached block made it possible to specify the species at the origin of these prints and to formulate new dating hypotheses.

The age of the land precedes the time when real dinosaurs developed; the traces correspond to primitive reptiles belonging to the archosaur groups, among which are the ancestors of dinosaurs and crocodiles.

Thus Emosson’s reptiles resemble dinosaurs but have not yet acquired all their characteristics. The details found on this trail made it possible to link it to a reptile whose appearance can be compared to that of a crocodile, approximately 1.5m long with a shortened snout, raised on its legs. It belongs to the genus Isochirotherium (name given to the type of prints) and can be related to the skeleton of Ticinosuchus, the fossil of which was found in the Middle Triassic of Ticino.

The study of the site continues, because it is the oldest fossil traces of vertebrates in Switzerland.

USEFUL INFORMATION
The route proposed to you is fully signposted and appears on the region’s hiking maps. The footprints of Vieux-Emosson are generally visible from mid-July (covered with snow earlier in the season).

We recommend good walking shoes, adequate equipment and supplies. Atmospheric conditions can quickly vary between 1,900 m and 2,500 m altitude. Halfway through the course, the Cabane du Vieux-Emosson provides a place to eat.

La Haute Route valaisanne des «proto-dinosaures»

Une petite histoire des empreintes fossiles du Trias valaisan

https://www.rts.ch/info/sciences-tech/11562033-sur-les-traces-des-archosaures-qui-ont-sillonne-le-valais-il-y-a-240-millions-dannees.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RI1AqHC9vKs&t=64s