Écrins National Park

Écrins National Park (French: Parc national des Écrins) is a French national park in the departments of Hautes-Alpes and Isère. The park is the Ecrins mountain range, which is in the French Alps bordered to the south by the Durance valley, to the north by the Romanche valley, and to the west by the Drac and Buech valleys.

Understand

Flora and fauna

There are over 2,000 species of plants can be found in the park and are distributed according to the environment, but also according to the altitudes, exposures, etc. The pine and larch are very common on the slopes, as to flowering plants include such iconic species such as the blue thistle of the Alps, the Venus shoe, the edelweiss, the wormwood, but also leaves saxifrage opposite (saxifraga oppositifolia) which was encountered up to 4070 metres above sea level in the reserve, making it the highest plant France. But there are many other species, including fungi, lichens, etc. The presence and maintenance of certain species in environments such as hay meadows is sometimes linked to ancestral agricultural practices.

Get in

There are numerous roads entering the park from most directions, but the more common entry points is from the southwest via Chabottes.

Get around

As with all other French national parks, going off a marked road or travel via your vehicle is prohibited in order to preserve the landscape.

See

• 1 Lac du Lauvitel. A lake perched at an altitude of 1530 metres and is the largest lake of the Écrins massif and forms one slope of the Oisans region. Additionally, the southern part of the lake and valley are classified as part of a "réserve naturelle intégrale" since 1995. Sometimes during winter, the thickness of the lake can go well over a metre. (updated Dec 2021)
• 2 Glacier d'Arsine. Another one of the park's glacial lakes, too rich in beauty, except the fact that this lake had not existed before the 1940s. (updated Dec 2021)

Do

There are more than 700 kilometres of hiking trails which allow you to hike through Ecrins National Park; some of these are part of the route of the long-distance hiking trail 54 (GR 54), which goes around the Ecrins massif and passes through the heart of the park. Mountain huts and special shelters exist in some places on the course of these trails.

Eat

• 1 La Galinette, Pont la Place, La Chapelle-en-Valgaudémar. Restaurant that serves Italian cuisine. (updated Dec 2021)
• 2 La Petite Fabrique, D944, Chabottes, ☏ +33 4 92 21 03 68. (updated Dec 2021)

Sleep

Lodging

• 1 Chalet-Hôtel du Gioberney, Refuge du gioberney, La Chapelle-en-Valgaudémar, ☏ +33 6 24 75 14 14. Hotel that includes a restaurant as well as free breakfast and parking. (updated Dec 2021)

Camping

• 2 Camping Municipal Les Mélèzes, Pont la Place, La Chapelle-en-Valgaudémar, ☏ +33 4 92 55 23 01. (updated Dec 2021)