Best regional nature parks in France

The territory of the Park covers more than 40% of Corsica. It is above all a rural, mountainous park, which culminates at Monte Cintu at 2,710 meters. It also includes two maritime facades with the grandiose and wild western coasts of the Gulf of Portu Girolata and a lagoon sample of the eastern seaboard. For almost 80 km, the coast of the Park, a true geological monument (cliffs, volcanic rocks ...) is a reference area in the Mediterranean due to the diversity of its ecosystems, terrestrial and marine origin. 'a wealth of flora and fauna. There are 23 rare or remarkable plants, some of which, endemic, occupy their only station in Corsica.Show more

The French Gâtinais draws its originality from its contrasting and unusual landscapes: clearings and forests coexist, the sand alternates with dry valleys and sandstone makes the horizon chaotic by outcropping in the most unexpected places. The landscapes are characterized by the close interweaving of cultivated and natural spaces. A series of parallel alignments of sand and sandstone oriented from north-west to south-east constitute a network of rocky and wooded ridges and mounds.Show more

With its wooded slopes, lakes and peat bogs, the great ridge forms the Hautes-Vosges, from where the Alsatian, Lorraine and Franche-Comté valleys depart. The Plateau des mille étangs, located in Franche-Comté, is the second great natural resource. Its natural and cultural heritages, its mythical blue line and the landscapes it offers to discover, its hiking trails, the excellence of its products and know-how allow each side to offer a different facet of the Vosges mountains. . In this highly populated and visited mid-mountain area, it is around mountain agriculture and its short circuits, the development of the wood sector but also eco-tourism that the Park directs its main actions of development.Show more

Open book on geology, fauna, flora and human history, the territory of the Park offers a wide variety of landscapes and environments: forests, spaces opened by agricultural and pastoral activities, lakes, double influence ( Mediterranean and Alps), variation in altitudes, cliff areas. The Verdon river, with its 165 km and a storage capacity of 434 million m3, constitutes, with the Durance, the water tower of Provence.Show more

Mountain and Mediterranean, the Regional Natural Park of the Catalan Pyrenees is characterized by three strong territorial identities. • Le Capcir presents all aspects of a mountain environment with its forest areas, high-altitude lakes and peaks (Carlit 2,921 m). • La Cerdagne forms a vast plain of altitude (1,600 m) and hedged farmland. • The Conflent is distinguished by a more Mediterranean climate, a multitude of valleys and a fault from which warm waters arise. Biodiversity is characterized by the presence of 1,600 peat bogs, 1,000 remarkable plant species such as the Siberian Ligulaire and emblematic species such as the Pyrenees Desman or the Bearded Vulture. 55% of the park is covered by forest, and more particularly by the Hooked pine. The built heritage is both monumental with two fortresses listed as World Heritage by Unesco (Mont-Louis and Villefranche-de-Conflent), and vernacular with a strong presence of dry stone constructions. The territory is crossed from one end to the other by the Yellow Train, centenary and emblem of the Park.Show more

This medium mountain park offers, from ridges to meadows, passing through the forest, a great diversity of landscapes and unique environments. The tradition of breeding and cheese processing, the exploitation of underground water, the extraction of materials from the basement, tourist reception are the flagship activities of a territory always in motion.Show more

From the lights of the lighthouses of the Iroise to the cliffs of Crozon, the sparkling meanders of the Alder to the metallic reflections of the Rade de Brest or to the golden bogs of the Monts d'Arrée, the Armorique Regional Natural Park offers an alternation of landscapes quite astonishing, between maritime, land and mountain paintings. It is one of the Parks which has the most important maritime facade, with the particularity of including an island part. It also enjoys international recognition with the obtaining of a double UNESCO label: Biosphere reserve for the islands and the Iroise Sea and World Heritage inscription of the Vauban Tower, military fortification of the XVIIth erected in Camaret-sur -Sea.Show more

Bordered by the two largest natural lakes in France, those of Annecy and Le Bourget, the Bauges massif is a territory where the strength of mountain and agricultural traditions predominates. In the south of the massif, in Combe de Savoie, extends the Isère valley. As you climb the slope, it is the dry lawns, their spring orchids and the song of crickets that accompany your ascent. Walking towards the heart of the Bauges, you pass through landscapes of "balconies". After crossing the beech and fir forests, still in use today, the mountain pastures where the herds of cows graze in summer, notably at the origin of the Tome des Bauges, the steep lawns where chamois and mouflons have replaced them , you are at the top, dominating the landscape, savoring new colors and new atmospheres each season.Show more

In the mountains, summer landscapes are among the most remarkable landscapes in the Pyrenees. On the foothills, the livestock, alive and well, maintains open and hedged areas. The hillsides are characterized by their locks, their valleys, their wooded ridges, their underground rivers ... In these varied and preserved landscapes, an exceptional and original flora and fauna coexist with diversified human activities.Show more

The Prealps of Azur can be guessed from Verdon, they echo the summits of Mercantour and call from the coast and its islands. This mid-mountain territory contains gems: 1/3 of the French metropolitan flora, perched medieval villages, around 2,000 cavities and 140 kilometers of underground galleries, a history and landscapes strongly marked by flowers and their use in perfumery, a very present pastoralism which results in many bories and sheepfolds still preserved.Show more