The National Park of Les Ecrins

Discovering a high mountain park

Between Gap, Grenoble and Briançon, the The Ecrins National Park is a high mountain area whose chain of main peaks exceeds 3000 m in altitude, with the Barre des Écrins as its highest point at 4102 m.

The Park has a very rich and diverse fauna and flora (more than 2200 species of vertebrates and invertebrates and 2500 plant species recorded).

The protected heart of the national park is only accessible on foot. Many routes allow you to discover mountain villages, mountain pastures, lakes and waterfalls and many other mountain surprises.

In Matheysine, the Ecrins National Park extends over the eastern part of the territory, including the Taillefer massif, the Tabor and the Coiro, the northern part of the Valbonnais (Entraigues) and the Valjouffrey valley up to the Font Turbat cirque.

Created in 1973, the Ecrins National Park is one of the ten French national parks with Vanoise, Port-Cros, the Pyrenees, the Cévennes, the Calanques, the Mercantour, Guadeloupe, Réunion and Guyana.

More information on the Ecrins National Park: The Ecrins National Park website

Crédit photo : Yanis UDDIN

Village du Périer en Valbonnais

Crédit Photo : Matheysine Tourisme

The Ecrins and the Valbonnais

The territory of the Valbonnais and its three valleys (the Bonne with the five hamlets of Valjouffrey, the Malsanne with the villages of Périer and Chantelouve and the Roizonne with Lavaldens), is part of the The Ecrins National Park

Steeped in high mountains with a peak at 3564 meters above sea level at the Pic de l'Olan, this area is home to a rich biodiversity closely linked to the immediate proximity of the "core zone" of the park.

Go hiking to discover the wild nature of the Ecrins from Valjouffrey; Experience an indescribable feeling of being at the end of the world in Valsenestre; Glance at the high pyramid of the Olan from the Font Turbat refuge... No doubt: your most beautiful mountain memories are here!

The House of the Ecrins National Park in Entraigues - open in July and August - offers documentary spaces, a shop, a temporary exhibition space and an audiovisual and conference space. It is also a tourist information point for the entire Matheysine territory.