Écrins National Park

Écrins National Park
Parc national des Écrins
IUCN category II (national park)
Chamoissière Pics and Romanche River, Écrins national Park
Coordinates	44°51′21″N 6°15′49″E
Area	918 km2 (354 sq mi)
Established	1973 (1913)

Écrins National Park (French: Parc national des Écrins, pronounced [paʁk nasjɔnal dɛz‿ekʁɛ̃]) is one of the ten French national parks. It is located in the south-eastern part of France in the Dauphiné Alps south of Grenoble and north of Gap, shared between the départements of Isère and Hautes-Alpes.

It rises up to 4,102 m (13,458 ft) at the Barre des Ecrins and covers 918 km² (354 sq mi) of high mountain areas, with high peaks, glacier fields, glacier valleys, alpine pastures, subalpine woodlands and lakes.

Its borders mostly correspond to these of the Massif des Ecrins, delimited by the main valleys of rivers Drac, Romanche and Durance (with its Guisane dependency).

It attracts up to 800,000 tourists each year.

The park has been awarded the European Diploma of Protected Areas.

Territory

Écrins National Park covers the territory of the following communes:

Ancelle, Aspres-lès-Corps, Bénévent-et-Charbillac, Besse-en-Oisans, Buissard, Chabottes, Champcella, Champoléon, Chantelouve, Châteauroux-les-Alpes, Chauffayer, Clavans-en-Haut-Oisans, Crots, Embrun, Entraigues, Freissinières, L'Argentière-la-Bessée, La Chapelle-en-Valgaudémar, La Grave, La Motte-en-Champsaur, Lavaldens, Le Bourg-d'Oisans, Le Monêtier-les-Bains, Le Périer, Les Costes, Les Infournas, Les Vigneaux, Mizoën, Mont-de-Lans, Orcières, Oris-en-Rattier, Ornon, Oulles, Pelvoux, Prunières, Puy-Saint-Vincent, Puy-Saint-Eusèbe, Puy-Sanières, Réallon, Réotier, Saint-Apollinaire, Saint-Bonnet-en-Champsaur, Saint-Christophe-en-Oisans, Saint-Clément-sur-Durance, Saint-Eusèbe-en-Champsaur, Saint-Firmin, Saint-Jacques-en-Valgodemard, Saint-Jean-Saint-Nicolas, Saint-Julien-en-Champsaur, Saint-Léger-les-Mélèzes, Saint-Maurice-en-Valgodemard, Saint-Michel-de-Chaillol, Savines-le-Lac, Valbonnais, Valjouffrey, Vallouise, Vénosc, Villar-d'Arêne, Villard-Notre-Dame, Villard-Reymond, Villar-Loubière.

Borders of the park and principal summits, towns and rivers

See also

• Massif des Écrins

External links

• Ecrins National Park official site
• Ecrins pictures
• GR54 Hike in the Écrins (in Dutch)