Читать книгу Ecrins National Park. 70 walking routes in the Ecrins national park онлайн

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Located southeast of Grenoble and unequally split between the départe-ments of Isère and Hautes-Alpes, the Parc National des Écrins is the largest in France, covering an area of 92,000 hectares (227,332 acres), with a peripheral zone nearly twice that size. This is mountain country par excellence, with the highest peaks forming a block at the very heart of the range, and a diverse assortment of valleys surrounding or spreading from it. Beginning in the north, and travelling clockwise around the National Park, the most important of these valleys are as follows.

Vallée de la Romanche

One of the region's main access routes between Grenoble and Briançon via Col du Lautaret journeys through the Vallée de la Romanche along the Park's northern rim. At its western end Bourg d'Oisans makes a good base, for it's conveniently situated close to a junction of valleys (the Vénéon lies to the southeast) and has good public transport connections. However, the best walking opportunities lie further east, in the vicinity of La Grave and Villar d'Arène at the foot of the Lautaret pass, with the Meije bursting out of the valley to the south and an impressive group of high mountains clustered nearby. Trails lead among and below these peaks, visiting remote huts and wild inner glens inhabited by marmot and chamois. The more gentle country north of the Romanche, whilst lying outside the National Park, also has countless walking routes, with glorious views to the big mountains on the far side of the valley. The multi-day Tour de 'Oisans, which follows GR54 on a circuit of the northern and central Écrins, begins and ends in Bourg d'Oisans, travels along that northern hillside and comes down to La Grave before heading southeast across Col d'Arsine to gain Le Casset in the Vallée de la Guisane.