Queyras

Less than an hour's drive from AlpBase you will come to the Queyras Regional Park. It is part of the Hautes Alpes, lying to the south-east of the Ecrins National Park. The Queyras is a nature reserve that is quite unique in the Alps. The Park is magnificent for hiking; the air is clear,  the mountains and valleys are magnificent and the views breathtaking. Plus throughout the park’s 650 sq.km there are many mountain trails across wild, colourful countryside full of both traditional flowers of Provence as well as those from the Arctic and the Caucasus.

The Queyras is also remote; it is one of the oldest mountain ranges of the Alps, and it was one of the last ones to be opened up to mountain tourism towards the end of the 20th century. As a result it is still, to this day, relatively untouched by environmental destruction.

The Queyras is one of the most beautiful mountain ranges in the French Alps. Despite its comparatively high altitude (typically between 1,500m. and 2,500m.) it has the pleasant charm of pastoral mountains, with its Mélèze forests, fresh white water torrents, and classic alpine meadows. The mountains and valleys are magnificent, with gorgeous views and clear skies. These include first-rate views of the neighbouring summits of the Écrins Massif and the Piedmont Alps in Italy. The highest, most imposing and well-known mountain in the whole area is Monte Viso (3841m/12,592ft), its summit lying just over the border in Italy.

The main geographical feature of the Queyras is the Guil valley. The River Guil rises high up in the mountains on the border with Italy in the Monte Viso region. It flows first to the northwest, passing La Monta and Abriès before turning to the southwest, passing Aiguilles to reach Château-Queyras. From here the river continues below the hamlet of Bramousse to enter the deep Combe du Queyras, before flowing into the River Durance near the fortified town of Mont Dauphin.

The major town of the