The oldest national park in the Alps, where nature is left to follow its own course.
Swiss National Park
The Swiss National Park is the only national park in Switzerland and the oldest of its kind in the Alps and Central Europe. Located in the Engadin valley of the canton of Graubünden, it occupies a roughly triangular area between Zernez, S-chanf, the Ofenpass, and Scuol, spanning about 170 square kilometers around the lower Engadine Dolomites.
Classified by the IUCN as a Category Ia strict nature reserve (wilderness area), the park allows natural processes to unfold without human interference. Visitors must stay on marked trails; hunting, logging, grazing, fire-making, and even staying overnight are prohibited. The protected landscape includes forest, alpine meadows, bare rock, scree, snowfields, and small lakes, and supports diverse flora and fauna, with ongoing research tracking the recovery of ecosystems largely undisturbed since before human arrival in the Alps.
Beyond its conservation role, the Swiss National Park is an important site for long-term ecological research and public environmental education. Since 1979 it has been part of the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve network, the first such area in Switzerland, and it remains a key reference point for understanding how Alpine ecosystems recover when left to themselves.