# Gran Paradiso or the Abruzzo park: which to visit > Both date from 1922. Gran Paradiso is 71,044 ha of glaciers under a 4,061 m summit; the Abruzzo park is beech forest holding about 50 Marsican bears. URL: https://myitalia.it/compare/gran-paradiso-vs-abruzzo-park Last updated: 2026-09-11 Go to Gran Paradiso for glaciers, ibex country and a summit at 4,061 m, and to the Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise park for beech forest and Italy's largest bear population, about 50 Marsican bears; both parks trace their start to 1922. ## Two parks from the same year | | Gran Paradiso | Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise | |---|---:|---:| | Start | 1922, royal hunting reserve | 1922 private initiative, law in 1923 | | Surface | 71,044 ha | about 50,500 ha | | Contiguous area | not stated | 77,500 ha | | Municipalities | 13, in 2 regions | 24, in 3 regions | | Highest point | 4,061 m | Monte Petroso, 2,249 m | | Glaciers | 59 | none listed | | Marked trails | 553 km | not in our sources | | Symbol animal | ibex | Marsican bear, about 50 | Gran Paradiso's 71,044 ha is a single figure; the Abruzzo park's 50,500 ha is given as an approximation by the park itself, and its contiguous area, 77,500 ha, is larger than the park. Both are among the 24 national parks with an operating management body in 2026, out of 27 entries on the environment ministry's written list, and national parks together make up 46.5% of Italy's protected land. On the ministry's list, Gran Paradiso's main region is Valle d'Aosta and the Abruzzo park's is Abruzzo, although each crosses into neighboring regions. ## Gran Paradiso began as a king's hunting ground Gran Paradiso was created in 1922 on the former Savoy hunting reserve, and its managing body calls it the first Italian national park. It covers 71,044 ha, about five times the area of Turin, across 13 municipalities in Valle d'Aosta and Piedmont. The hunting past is still under your boots. Of the park's 553 km of trails, 65% follow the old royal hunting mule tracks, so a good part of any walk here runs on paths laid out for a king's hunting parties. Fewer than 300 people live inside the park boundary, against 8,160 in its 13 municipalities. You're walking through a mountain that was kept empty on purpose. ## The Abruzzo park started with private money The Abruzzo park was born in 1922 as a private initiative and became law in 1923 with Royal Decree-Law no. 257. It has carried its current name, Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise, only since 2001. It spans about 50,500 ha in the provinces of L'Aquila, Frosinone and Isernia, with 77,500 ha of contiguous area around it and 24 municipalities: 12 in Abruzzo, 7 in Lazio, 5 in Molise. Headquarters are at Viale Santa Lucia 2 in Pescasseroli, and 32 rangers cover the whole of it. Forest is the point. About 30,000 ha are woodland, 4,400 ha are strict reserves, and the park lists its oldest trees by age: a black pine at Villetta Barrea estimated at 535 years, and a beech in Val Cervara at 560. ## Ice on one side, forest on the other Gran Paradiso's highest point is 4,061 m and the Abruzzo park's is Monte Petroso at 2,249 m. That gap decides everything about the walking. In Gran Paradiso the landscape is counted in ice and water: 59 glaciers and 183 lakes. In the Abruzzo park the three high points, Petroso, Marsicano at 2,245 m and Meta at 2,242 m, sit above a sea of beech, and Lago di Barrea is a listed Ramsar wetland. The biodiversity numbers follow the altitude. Gran Paradiso records 168 vertebrate species and 1,124 plant species. For the Abruzzo park we have the bears, the trees and the reserves, but no species count in our sources. ## One park is built around the bear The Abruzzo park authority estimates about 50 Marsican brown bears, with a range of 45 to 69, almost all of them inside the park. It's the largest bear population in Italy, and the subspecies, Ursus arctos marsicanus, lives in the central Apennines and nowhere else in our sources. Gran Paradiso's animal is the ibex, the reason the reserve existed at all. The two parks were founded to protect different animals, and each still organizes its identity around one. If you want to understand why the Abruzzo bears are native while the Trentino ones were brought in from Slovenia, that's on [the Marsican bear and the Trentino bear](/compare/marsican-bear-vs-trentino-bear). ## What the parks don't tell you Neither park publishes a visitor count in our sources, so we can't tell you which one is busier. The Abruzzo park's trail network isn't measured in kilometers anywhere we could verify, and the park authority gives no year for its bear estimate. A genetic monitoring program under way in 2026 should produce a new bear count. Until then, treat 50 as the working number the park itself uses. ## Pick which Pick Gran Paradiso if you want high mountain walking on old royal tracks, glaciers in view, and a chance of ibex; start from [the Gran Paradiso park page](/nature/parco-gran-paradiso). Pick the Abruzzo park if you want forest walking at lower altitude and the park where almost all of Italy's Marsican bears live; see [the Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise park](/nature/parco-abruzzo-lazio-molise) and [hiking in Abruzzo](/hiking/in-abruzzo). The shared founding year is told on [1922, the first two parks](/stories/1922-the-first-two-parks). ## FAQ ### Which is Italy's oldest national park? Gran Paradiso, which its managing body calls the first Italian national park, created in 1922 on the Savoy royal hunting reserve. The Abruzzo park began the same year as a private initiative but was only established by law in 1923, with Royal Decree-Law no. 257. ### How many bears live in the Abruzzo national park? About 50 Marsican brown bears, with a range of 45 to 69, according to the park authority. It's the largest bear population in Italy and it lives almost entirely inside the park. The authority does not say which year the estimate refers to. ### How high is the Gran Paradiso? The summit reaches 4,061 m and lies entirely on Italian territory. The park around it counts 59 glaciers and 183 lakes, which is why it reads as high mountain rather than forest. ### How big is the Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise national park? About 50,500 ha, with a further 77,500 ha of contiguous area around it. It covers 24 municipalities in three regions: 12 in Abruzzo, 7 in Lazio and 5 in Molise, with its headquarters in Pescasseroli. ## Sources | Fact | Source | Confidence | Valid until | |---|---|---|---| | Il Parco Nazionale Gran Paradiso, nato nel 1922 sulla ex riserva di caccia dei Savoia, e' il primo parco nazionale italiano e copre 71.044 ettari, circa cinque volte la superficie di Torino, su tredici comuni fra Valle d'Aosta e Piemonte | [Ente Parco Nazionale Gran Paradiso](https://www.pngp.it/ente-parco/bilancio-di-sostenibilit%C3%A0/il-primo-parco-ditalia) | medium | 2029-12-31 | | Nel Parco Nazionale Gran Paradiso il Gran Paradiso raggiunge i 4.061 m; il parco conta 59 ghiacciai, 183 laghi, 168 specie di vertebrati e 553 chilometri di sentieri, per il 65% ricalcati sulle mulattiere reali di caccia | [Ente Parco Nazionale Gran Paradiso](https://www.pngp.it/ente-parco/bilancio-di-sostenibilit%C3%A0/il-primo-parco-ditalia) | medium | 2029-12-31 | | Il Parco Nazionale d'Abruzzo, Lazio e Molise nasce nel 1922 per iniziativa privata ed e' istituito per legge nel 1923 con il Regio Decreto-Legge n. 257: si estende su circa 50.500 ettari con un'area contigua di altri 77.500 ettari e comprende 24 comuni di tre regioni. | [Ente Parco Nazionale d'Abruzzo, Lazio e Molise](https://www.parcoabruzzo.it/pagina.php?id=546) | medium | 2029-12-31 | | L'Ente Parco Nazionale d'Abruzzo, Lazio e Molise stima la popolazione di orso bruno marsicano in circa 50 esemplari, con un intervallo tra 45 e 69: e' il nucleo di orsi piu' numeroso d'Italia ed e' quasi interamente compreso nel Parco. | [Ente Parco Nazionale d'Abruzzo, Lazio e Molise](https://www.parcoabruzzo.it/pagina.php?id=106) | medium | 2027-12-31 | | In Italia i parchi nazionali con ente gestore operativo sono 24 (2026); la mappa ufficiale del Ministero dell'Ambiente e della Sicurezza Energetica ne georeferenzia 24. | [Ministero dell'Ambiente e della Sicurezza Energetica (MASE)](https://www.mase.gov.it/aree-protette/mappa-parchi-nazionali) | medium | 2027-12-31 | | I 24 parchi nazionali operativi italiani (2026), con la regione della sede/localizzazione principale indicata dal MASE. | [Ministero dell'Ambiente e della Sicurezza Energetica (MASE)](https://www.mase.gov.it/aree-protette/mappa-parchi-nazionali); [doc 2](https://www.mase.gov.it/portale/elenco-dei-parchi) | medium | 2027-12-31 | | L'elenco dei parchi nazionali pubblicato dal MASE (aggiornato al 21 maggio 2025) contiene 27 voci, tra cui il Parco Nazionale del Matese e il Parco Nazionale di Portofino, entrambi indicati come 'perimetrazione provvisoria', e il Parco Nazionale del Golfo di Orosei e del Gennargentu, istituito ma mai reso operativo. | [Ministero dell'Ambiente e della Sicurezza Energetica (MASE)](https://www.mase.gov.it/portale/elenco-dei-parchi) | medium | 2027-12-31 | | I parchi nazionali rappresentano il 46,5% della superficie protetta terrestre italiana, pari a circa 1,48 milioni di ettari (indicatore ISPRA aggiornato al 2024). | [ISPRA - Annuario dei dati ambientali](https://indicatoriambientali.isprambiente.it/en/protected-areas/terrestrial-protected-areas) | medium | 2027-06-30 | ## Image https://media.myitalia.it/media/region.valle-d-aosta.1600.jpg Author: Ekbueno. 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