Vercors Regional Natural Park

Vercors Regional Natural Park (Parc naturel régional du Vercors)
Protected Area
Country France
State Drôme
Isère
Region Rhône-Alpes
Coordinates 44°55′41″N 5°29′24″E / 44.928°N 5.49°E / 44.928; 5.49Coordinates: 44°55′41″N 5°29′24″E / 44.928°N 5.49°E / 44.928; 5.49
Established 1970
Management Fédération des parcs naturels régionaux de France
Website: http://www.parc-du-vercors.fr/

The Vercors Regional Natural Park (French: Parc naturel régional du Vercors) is a protected area of forested mountains in the Rhône-Alpes region of southeastern France.

Geography

Set upon a limestone plateau south of Grenoble, the park extends into the French Western Alps. It spans two departments, Drôme and Isère, and covers a total area of 135,000 hectares (330,000 acres).[1] The plateau's main elevation reaches 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) while the eastern Alpine mountain ridge tops 2,300 metres (7,500 ft) with Le Grand Veymont (2341m).

The Vercors area is peppered with caves. During World War II, it served as a safe and defensible position for the French Resistance: Forteresse de la Résistance.[2] The area now contains around three hundred monuments to the Resistance, including a memorial center and the preserved remains of a destroyed village.[3]

In modern times, Vercors has become a popular tourist destination frequented for skiing, hiking and spelunking.[2] Several small communes dot the landscape, supported principally by forestry, shepherding and tourism. The area was officially designated a regional natural park in 1970.[1]

The village of Pont-en-Royans perched on the edge of the Vercors

Member communes

The Vercors parklands include the following communes:[4][5]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 IUCN Commission on National Parks and Protected Areas (November 1990). 1990 United Nations list of national parks and protected areas. IUCN. p. 89. ISBN 978-2-8317-0032-8. Retrieved 11 August 2011.
  2. 1 2 Nicola Williams; Oliver Berry; Steve Fallon (2009). France. Lonely Planet. p. 25. ISBN 978-1-74104-915-2. Retrieved 14 August 2011.
  3. ↑ Charles Edwin Closmann (2009). War and the environment: military destruction in the modern age. Texas A&M University Press. p. 150. ISBN 978-1-60344-169-8. Retrieved 14 August 2011.
  4. ↑ "Liste des communes du parc naturel régional du Vercors" (in French). Annuaire-mairie.fr. 2011. Retrieved 19 October 2011.
  5. ↑ Maison du Parc (2011). "Un Parc, 85 communes" (in French). Parc naturel régional du Vercors. Retrieved 19 October 2011.
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