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The Vanoise National Park

The northern part of the Maurienne valley gained national park status in 1963, the Parc National de la Vanoise (PNV), and was inaugurated in 1965 at the base of the Monolith at Sardières. It was the first national park in France and shares a boundary with the Italian Gran Paradiso National Park, the two parks becoming twinned in 1972. Although the PNV is quite compact, covering 520km2, in combination with Gran Paradiso it forms the largest nature reserve in western Europe at over 1250km2. The peripheral zone around the reserve acts as a buffer to further expansion and adds a further 1450kms2 of managed environment. The 600km of footpaths allow plenty of exploring within the park and the extensive network of paths in the peripheral zone more than doubles this, guaranteeing both a diversity of routes and solitude on all but the most popular routes. The national park designation has preserved the area from extensive development and protects the rural nature of Alpine agriculture. Compared to national parks in the UK there are more restrictions on activities, in particular: