# Gran Paradiso: the first national park, from 1922 > Gran Paradiso was founded in 1922 on a royal hunting reserve and covers 71,044 hectares over thirteen comuni, with 553 km of paths and 59 glaciers. URL: https://myitalia.it/nature/parco-gran-paradiso Last updated: 2026-09-02 Gran Paradiso is the first national park in Italy, established in 1922 on the former Savoy royal hunting reserve, covering 71,044 hectares across 13 comuni in Valle d'Aosta and Piedmont. ## 1922, and a royal hunting reserve The park was born in 1922 out of the hunting reserve of the House of Savoy, which is the reason it exists at all: the ibex survived here because the crown had reserved them for itself. It covers 71,044 hectares, roughly five times the area of the city of Turin, across 13 comuni in two regions, Valle d'Aosta and Piedmont. Fewer than 300 people live inside the park boundary, against 8,160 in the 13 comuni taken together. That ratio is the park in one line: a large protected area with its population living around the edge of it, in valleys that empty as you climb. ## The only 4,000 meter summit entirely in Italy The Gran Paradiso reaches 4,061 meters and is the only peak above 4,000 meters lying wholly within Italian territory. Monte Bianco and Monte Rosa are higher and both sit on a border. Inside the same boundary the park counts 59 glaciers, 183 lakes, 168 vertebrate species and 1,124 plant species. Those figures come from a single primary source, the park authority's own sustainability report. We have not found an independent confirmation, and the glacier count in particular is the kind of number that shrinks between one survey and the next. ## 553 km of paths, and 65% of them are royal The park has 553 kilometers of marked paths, and 65% of that network follows the mule tracks built for the royal hunts. That statistic explains what walking here feels like. Royal hunting tracks were engineered for pack animals carrying equipment and for a king who did not want to be out of breath, so they climb at a constant, forgiving gradient and traverse rather than attack the slope. The consequence for planning is that distances are long and gradients are manageable, which is the opposite of the Dolomite profile. Budget a day by hours on the path, not by meters of ascent. ## How many national parks Italy has, and why the answer moves 24 national parks have an operating authority in 2026, and the official map of the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security georeferences 24 of them. The same ministry's written list, updated May 21, 2025, has 27 entries. The three extra are Matese and Portofino, both marked with provisional boundaries, and Golfo di Orosei e del Gennargentu, established by law but never made operational. The ISPRA indicator gives 26. 24, 26 or 27: all three are official and all three count something different. This site uses 24, because a park with no authority has no rangers, no visitor center and no rules being enforced, which is what a traveler actually meets on the ground. ## What the parks add up to National parks account for 46.5% of Italy's protected land surface, around 1.48 million hectares, on the ISPRA indicator updated to 2024. Set the 71,044 hectares of Gran Paradiso against that total and its real weight becomes visible: the first park is not the largest, and the system it started grew far past it. That is the useful way to read the 1922 date. It is not a claim about size but about sequence, and every other Italian national park is downstream of the decision taken here. See [national parks in Italy](/themes/national-parks) and [Valle d'Aosta](/regions/valle-d-aosta). ## FAQ ### Which is the oldest national park in Italy? Gran Paradiso, founded in 1922 on the former Savoy royal hunting reserve. It covers 71,044 hectares across 13 comuni in Valle d'Aosta and Piedmont, and fewer than 300 people live inside its boundary, against 8,160 in the 13 comuni as a whole. ### How many marked paths are there in Gran Paradiso? 553 kilometers of them, and 65% follow the royal hunting mule tracks laid out for the House of Savoy. That is why the gradients are steady rather than steep: they were built for men and mules moving quietly, not for the shortest line up. ### Is the Gran Paradiso the highest mountain entirely in Italy? It is the only summit above 4,000 meters lying entirely in Italian territory, at 4,061 m. Monte Bianco and Monte Rosa are higher but sit on the frontier. The park around it holds 59 glaciers, 183 lakes and 168 vertebrate species. ### How many national parks does Italy have? 24 with an operating authority in 2026, and that is the figure this site uses. The ministry's own written list has 27 entries, including Matese and Portofino with provisional boundaries and Golfo di Orosei e del Gennargentu, established but never made operational. ### What animal is Gran Paradiso known for? The ibex, the species the park was created to save after the Savoy reserve. The park records 168 vertebrate species and 1,124 plant species over its 71,044 hectares, with 59 glaciers and 183 lakes inside the same boundary. ## 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 e' la sola vetta oltre i 4.000 metri interamente in territorio italiano (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 | | 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 | | 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/nature.gran-paradiso.1600.jpg Author: CamDib. License: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Camosci_nel_Parco_Nazionale_del_Gran_Paradiso.jpg ## Other languages - it: https://myitalia.it/it/natura/parco-gran-paradiso.md - es: https://myitalia.it/es/naturaleza/parco-gran-paradiso.md - fr: https://myitalia.it/fr/nature/parco-gran-paradiso.md - de: https://myitalia.it/de/natur/parco-gran-paradiso.md