During your trip on the Route des Grandes Alpes®, you will pass through or alongside 3 national parks (Vanoise, Écrins, Mercantour), 2 regional nature parks (Bauges, Queyras) and 2 geoparks (Chablais and Bauges).
A national park is an exceptional territory, recognized as such at international level. Its mode of governance and management is entirely focused on preserving its natural riches. In France, there are 11 national parks. Three are in the Alps and concern Route des Grandes Alpes®: Parc national de la Vanoise, Parc national des Écrins and Parc national du Mercantour.
A regional nature park (PNR) is a territory that has voluntarily chosen a mode of development based on the enhancement and protection of natural and cultural heritages considered rich and fragile.
A geopark is a unified geographical area whose sites and landscapes are of geological interest of international importance. UNESCO-labeled geoparks aim to explore, develop and celebrate the links between a territory's geological heritage and its natural, cultural and intangible heritage.
A geopark is a unified geographical area whose sites and landscapes are of geological interest of international importance.
Vanoise National Park
In Savoie, between the high valleys of Maurienne and Tarentaise, the Parc national de la Vanoise is, historically, France's first national park. Created in 1963, it includes mountains peaking at over 3,000 m, on which numerous glaciers remain. It is twinned with and adjoins the Parco nazionale Gran Paradiso, in Italy. Together, they form one of the largest protected areas in Western Europe, covering 1250 km².
Ecrins National Park
Between Isère and Hautes-Alpes, the Parc national des Écrins is a vast high-mountain area (150 peaks over 3,000 m and some 10,000 hectares of glaciers), dominated by the 4102 m Barre des Écrins. Compact and rugged, its wilderness is tempered by vast expanses of alpine pastures. Deep valleys carved by glaciers escape from this fortress and open onto territories patiently conquered by man.
Mercantour National Park
The territory of the Parc national du Mercantour spans two départements (Alpes de Haute-Provence, Alpes Maritimes) and eight valleys: Roya, Bévéra, Vésubie, Tinée, Cians, Var, Verdon, Ubaye. The Route des Grandes Alpes® takes you from Barcelonnette to Sospel! At the summit of Gélas, the highest peak in the Mercantour at 3143 m, you're only 50 km from the Mediterranean as the crow flies!
Queyras Regional Nature Park
The Parc naturel régional du Queyras, the least populated of France's PNRs, is a little wonder of 610 km2, made up of ten communes, with authentic villages. Located in the northeastern Hautes-Alpes, it stretches from the Queyras massif to Vars, under the gaze of Mont Viso in neighboring Italy.
Bauges Regional Nature Park and UNESCO Geopark
If you take the Annecy variant, you'll be crisscrossing the Massif des Bauges, both a regional nature park and UNESCO Bauges World Geopark. Wetlands, dark, steep forests and impressive cliffs conceal the heart of the massif. Here, wide valleys give way to meadows, at the bottom of which flow "nants", which meet around the central artery of the Chéran.
UNESCO Chablais Geopark
Leaving Thonon-les-Bains, heading for Nice, you first pass through the UNESCO World Geopark of the Chablais. Along the way, don't miss the Pont-du-Diable gorge interpretation trail.