Ristolas
Ristolas in the Queyras Regional Nature Park (Hautes Alpes)
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Ristolas, at the bottom of the Guil valley in the Hautes Alpes, is the ideal location for a mountain vacation in the Queyras Regional Nature Park (see Panorama of Queyras)
Eglise de la Monta à Ristolas
The hamlets of Ristolas
In the past, the most populous hamlets in Ristolas were L'Echalp and La Monta, from where the paths leading to Italy via the Col Lacroix start. Floods, plagues, wars, avalanches, bombings... what calamities they have had to endure over the centuries! They resisted everything, they never gave up, but one day, in spite of themselves, it was declared that the mountain had defeated them. In La Monta, only the church and the customs house bear witness to those bygone days.
High mountain country
Ristolas is the domain of the high mountains, at the foot of the majestic Mont Viso, where the Guil rises and which, it is sometimes said, can only be in Italy by mistake...
Le majestueux Mont Viso domine de ses 3841 m Ristolas et le Queyras
Le lac Foréant à Ristolas (Queyras, Hautes Alpes)
... with its forests of cembro pines and its Foréant and Egorgéou lakes, into which mountains such as the Taillante crest are reflected. This is where bears used to be hunted, and nowadays they can only be seen on the town's coat of arms.
Ristolas in the Queyras Park
Located in the Parc Naturel Régional du Queyras, Ristolas is home to a wealth of high-mountain fauna, including chamois, mouflons and black grouse.
On misty days, you can also spot the jet-black Lanza salamander, which lives only here, on either side of the Italian border.
And if you go higher into the mountains, you can admire the nigritelles, the little vanilla-scented alpine orchids of the southern Alps, and discover, if you look carefully and are lucky, the tiny Alpine dwarf orchis that hides so well in the grass.
Randonnée à raquettes à la Médille (Ristolas)
Hiking from Ristolas
From Ristolas, there are countless hikes in both summer and winter. Why not admire Mont Viso from the Chalet de la Médille on a snowshoe hike with a mountain guide?
In summer, the hardest thing to choose is whether to hike to the Col de la Traversette with its tunnel steeped in history, stroll to the Lac de Ségure or Lac Baricle, or climb the Pic Foréant, one of the Queyras mountains towering over 3,000 m above sea level.
Skiing in Ristolas
If skiing is your favorite sport, you'll discover the magic of cross-country ski races in the Queyras, from Abriès to Echalp along the Guil, and it's in Abriès, just a few kilometers away, that you'll enjoy downhill skiing.
See map of Haut Guil valley ski area (Château Ville Vieille, Aiguilles, Abriès and Ristolas)
Visit the Queyras wildlife museum
At theArche des Cîmes in Ristolas, the Regional Nature Park's wildlife museum, you can see all the daytime and nocturnal animals of the Queyras, to the delight of young and old alike.
https://www.lepetitoiseau.fr/larche-des-cimes-ou-maison-de-la-nature-a-ristolas-queyras/