Pyrenees National Park (Pyrénées-Atlantiques)

The western section of the Pyrenees National Park, centered on the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department of Nouvelle Aquitaine, encompasses some of the most dramatic alpine scenery in France, concentrated in the Ossau and Aspe valleys south of Pau. The park's western zone is dominated by the Pic du Midi d'Ossau (2,884 m), a sheer-sided volcanic tooth of rock that serves as the region's iconic landmark, recognizable from deep within the valleys and from the summit of the Dune du Pilat on clear days. The Gave d'Ossau valley provides the main access corridor, with the ski resort of Artouste and the Lac de Fabrèges—where a seasonal cable car and narrow-gauge train carry visitors to 2,000 metres altitude for panoramic views over the Ossau cirque. The park supports a population of Pyrenean brown bears—one of Europe's most endangered large carnivores, numbering around 70 animals in the Franco-Spanish Pyrenees—as well as golden eagles, bearded vultures (gypaetes), Pyrenean ibex, and chamois. The GR10 long-distance trail traverses the park from the Basque Country through to the Mediterranean, and day hikes range from the gentle lakeside path around Lac d'Artouste to technical ascents of the Pic du Midi requiring crampons and ice axes in season. The Vallée d'Aspe further west, accessed from Oloron-Sainte-Marie, is wilder and less visited, with the thermal spa town of Eaux-Bonnes and the historic Somport Pass on the Spanish border. Villages such as Laruns and Louvie-Juzon provide accommodation and local farmhouse products including Ossau-Iraty sheep's cheese, produced in the valley since at least the 13th century.