Published 07/09/2026 06:46
Reading time: 2 min.
People pitch tents in the Ecrins National Park in the Alps in July 2026. (MATHILDE IMBERTI / RADIO FRANCE)
Many tourists pass through this park, located in the Alps, especially to spend the night. Park agents have set up patrols to avoid overcrowding.
The success of bivouac at altitude begins to create serious problems. Especially in the Ecrins park and its part of the Isère, in the direction of Deux Alpes. Lake Lauvitel, accessible within a few hours’ walk, attracts up to 1,200 visitors a day. Some stay overnight at the bivouac, and patrols have to be installed in the park to prevent or even punish excesses.
19:00. sharply facing the lake, at an altitude of 1500 meters. “7 pm is the allowed time, but tomorrow you have to take it down at 9 am, otherwise it’s considered a hike,” the tourist explains.
The tents are set up by hitting the sardines with rocks to force them down onto the hard, sloping ground. But the experience is worth it, according to 17-year-olds Arthur and Maxence. “We are from Dunkirk and came here because we saw some videos online so we said why not.”starts first. “The elevation difference is more than 600 meters, we fought a lot, his friend admits. Then take a little swim in the lake, to be honest, see such a landscape, it’s beautiful.”
View of Lake Lauwitel in the Ecrins National Park in the Alps, July 2026. (MATHILDE IMBERTI / RADIO FRANCE)
Nature with its own rules, in the heart of the Ecrins National Park. The monitor guards are here to remind them. “No dog, no fire, no music, no drone.” list Narcisse Sertain, support technician at the Ecrins National Park, in the Oisans-Valbonne sector. “We also give them advice, be it on equipment or how to behave in the mountains. he adds. We often have a very constructive exchange of views, which for me is sometimes even more interesting than with an experienced tourist, because these are people who start from scratch and leave with the correct codes, because we were able to talk to them.”
In the center is Samuel Sempe, director of the Ecrins Alpine Park, with agents organizing random surveillance tours, July 2026. (MATHILDE IMBERTI / RADIO FRANCE)
The environmental police impose sanctions if necessary: in 2025, 150 protocols were drawn up. For a fire, this amount can reach up to 135 euros.
Newcomers are increasing visitation to the site to such an extent that they are causing problems for the director of Ecrins National Park. “Here we can have up to 100, 120 tents, and on Lake Muzel, above us, on August 15, 2025 there were up to 215 tents. explains Samuel Sempe. In 2021, over the same periods, we had half as many tents as we do today. We are starting to see repeat locations where people pitch tents, such as yellow circles on alpine lawns. Then there is the sanitary aspect: they go to a shelter that is not designed for 200 tents.”
“This year we revised our bivouac order to be able to accommodate a bivouac quota and put it on the reserve.”
Samuel Sempe, Director of the Ecrins National Park
in FranceInformation
The quotas, which may be introduced from 2027, continue the director of the Ecrins park, who says he is encouraged by the experience of Sugiton Bay in Marseille, which is available by reservation. There are fewer people and natural systems take over.