The Vanoise national Park is located in the Rhône-Alpes region of Eastern France.
It lies in the Alps mountain chain within the département of Savoie (73).
It is divided into 2 valleys :
to the north is the Tarentaise valley (crossed by the River Arc),
and to the south, the Maurienne valley (crossed by the River Isère).
The Vanoise national Park was the first national park created in France (in 1963). Other national parksOther national parksIt was created to prevent the disappearance of the Alpine ibex in France, as a complement to the actions of its Italian neighbour : the Gran Paradiso National Park.
This former Royal game reserve became the1st Italian national park in 1922, the objective being to protect the Alpine ibex.
The two parks, which share a common border running for a distance of 14 km, have been twinned since 1972 and together form a protected area covering 1,250 km².
The two parks jointly received the European Diploma of Protected Areas in 2011.
The Vanoise national Park is part of a network of 9 French national parks, located in either mainland France or its Overseas regions.
They are dependent on the Ministry for the Protection of the Environment. Internationally renowned as areas of outstanding interest, they offer a combination of remarkable land and maritime spaces and a method of management that enables them to preserve their wealth.