The village of Le Vernet is located in the Bès [fr] Valley at 1,200 metres (3,900 ft) altitude.

[4] Its population does not exceed 100 permanent residents, but it is often more than doubled each summer and winter, when the municipality becomes the place of departure for sightseeing excursions, particularly in the Blanche [fr] Valley, and a place of departure for the nearby ski stations (Grand-Puy, Saint-Jean-Montclar [fr] and Chabanon).

They exceeded a macro-seismic intensity level V on the MSK scale (sleepers awake, falling objects).

The Bodiontiques, who were defeated by Augustus at the same time as other peoples present on the Tropaeum Alpium (before 14 BC), are attached to the province of Alpes Maritimae at its inception.

[17] The Comte of Provence Ramon Berenguer IV granted to the community, who reported to the Bailli of Seyne, a consulate [fr] in the 13th century.

[16] In the Middle Ages, the great road of Digne to Seyne passed, descending from the Col du Labouret, by Haut-Vernet, without following the Bès Valley.

[19] As with many communes of the Department, Le Vernet acquired schools well before the Jules Ferry laws: In 1863, it had one each at Haut-Vernet and Bas-Vernet, which provide a primary education for boys.

[23] On 24 March 2015, Germanwings Flight 9525, an Airbus A320 flying from Barcelona to Düsseldorf, crashed in the mountains of the neighboring commune of Prads-Haute-Bléone, near to the border with Le Vernet.

The rural exodus [fr] then caused a rapid decline in population, most importantly a long-term movement.

[33] The Catholic parish of Le Vernet depends on the Diocese of Digne, Riez and Sisteron.