The Ecrins National Park

A Walker’s Guide

Guidebook to walking 70 full- and half-day walks in France’s largest national
park, the Écrins. The Massif des Écrins is one of the most spectacular regions
in all the Alps. Most of the area is a national park, with summits over 3000m
high. Well-marked trails and a network of alpine huts make it accessible to
walkers.

Easily reached from Grenoble, the Massif des Écrins is one of the most
spectacular regions in all the Alps. Most of the area is a national park,
containing bold mountains hung with glaciers, and more than 100 summits over
3000m high. The park offers a profusion of alpine flowers, and romantic old
villages and hamlets huddle in the valleys.

This is mountain country par excellence, but hundreds of kilometres of well-
marked trails and a network of alpine huts make it accessible to walkers. The
highest peaks form a block at the very heart of the range, with a diverse
assortment of valleys surrounding or spreading from it – Vallée de la
Romanche, Vallée de la Guisane, Vallée de la Vallouise, Valgaudemar,
Valjouffrey and Vallée du Vénéon. For this second edition of the guide, Kev
Reynolds has chosen the best routes from each of these valley bases.