Vanoise National Park
Vanoise is a national park in France, created by one of the first in the country. The main reason for the creation of the park is the possible destruction of mountain goats in the area. The park is divided into 2 zones: a central area of 528 km2 and a peripheral area of 1,450 km2.
Vanoise National Park has many stunning mountains with a height of more than 2500 meters, from which you can enjoy wonderful views of the surrounding area. It is especially worth noting the Grand Kos mountain (2,852 m) and Mont Puri with a height of 2,852 meters. The peripheral area is accessible to people, there are ski resorts, including Meribel. Colonel Peter Lindsey, who was looking for possible winter vacation destinations, gave a powerful impetus to the development of tourism in this region. He set the task of finding a place that would be independent of Austria and Germany, where it became dangerous to rest due to the aggravation of Nazism. In 1936, the colonel visited the town of Les Allues and he liked it very much. Soon he developed a plan for the construction of a ski resort here. In 1938, the 1st funicular was launched, the following year the construction of the first hotels began, but the formation of the ski region was slowed down by the outbreak of war with Germany and was restored only after the war.
In Vanoise National Park, you can find many Alpine flowers that bloom triumphantly in the plains and mountains. In total, there are more than a thousand plants in the park, among them are specially protected: alpine aquilegia, sedge, Alpine bluebells, saxifrages, primroses, and edelweiss and gentians have become symbols of the park.
Approximately 5,000 chamois live in Vanoise Park, and there are also many hares, marmots, and voles among the mountains. foxes, badgers, weasels, martens, shrews. The park's avifauna includes 125 representatives of birds, including black grouse, grouse, green woodpeckers, mites, cedar woodpeckers, thrushes, snow finches, Alpine jackdaws, owls, and flycatchers. Tundra partridges can be found at high altitudes, and golden eagles nest on inaccessible cliffs. Hundreds of species of insects have found shelter in Vanoise, and countless wonderful butterflies, such as Vanessa or the big apollo, are hiding in the meadows among the flowers.
In Vanoise, there are over 2,000 stone goats hiding among the mountains, and you are lucky to notice them only when they come down from the mountains. These animals were widespread, but after the invention of guns they were almost completely destroyed, there were no more than 100 individuals hiding in the mountains of Gran Paradiso in Italy, because hunting was banned there in 1823, and in 1856 a royal reserve was founded. In 1922, it was expanded and declared the Gran Paradiso National Park. Both national parks are adjacent to each other.
