French National Parks: The Rules on Dogs, Bivouacking, Fires, and Drones

A leashed dog is allowed in the core of the Parc national des Cévennes [1], but banned from the core of the Parc national des Écrins, even on a leash [2]. The rules change from one national park to the next, and that’s by design: each park has its own regulations, set by decree and tailored to its habitats [3]. So it pays to know them before you go, park by park.

The core, where the rules apply

A French national park has two zones. In the core (cœur), on land or at sea, each park’s own regulations govern human activities, and everyone has to follow them: landowners, professionals, and visitors passing through alike. In the surrounding area (aire d’adhésion), unless a local decision says otherwise, no special environmental regulations apply: the towns there simply commit, through the park’s charter, to sustainable development [3].

On the ground, you can tell where the core begins. In the Cévennes, for example, road signs reading “Parc national des Cévennes, zone de protection” (protected zone) mark it on roads, signs or trail markers mark it on trails, and IGN maps, France’s official topographic maps, show it as a wide, solid green band [4]. Park rangers have the authority to record violations [5].

Why the differences? Each park adapts its rules to local conditions. The Vanoise massif has a hut roughly every three hours of hiking; the parks on the Mediterranean coast, on the other hand, are very crowded, hardly remote, and surrounded by places to stay [5]. That’s why bivouacking is limited to the surroundings of the huts in the first case, and banned in the second.

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Dogs: banned from the mountain cores

This is the rule that surprises visitors most. In the four high-mountain national parks, your dog stays home, however small, friendly, and well trained it is: its presence risks disturbing the ecosystem, from destroyed nests to transmitted germs, explains the Parc national de la Vanoise [6]. Elsewhere, dogs are allowed, with conditions.

Bivouacking: set hours and distances

Camping proper (camping sauvage) is strictly banned in national park cores, day and night. Bivouacking, on the other hand, is possible almost everywhere, but only in certain places and at certain times. To the parks, a bivouac means one night under the stars or in a compact tent too low to stand up in, set up in the evening and taken down in the morning, with no vehicle, no table or awning, and no staying several nights in the same spot [5].

Outside the core, in the surrounding area, bivouacking is allowed, except in towns that have banned it [5]. For the rules that apply everywhere in France, from the coast to protected sites, see our article on what French law says about backcountry camping.

Fire: banned, stoves sometimes tolerated

On this point, the national parks portal is clear: fires are banned in national parks, and it recommends bringing a stove [5]. Each park repeats the message in its own way. No fires in the Écrins, to prevent wildfires and damage to the soil [2]; in the Mercantour, fires are banned as a general rule [7]; in the Parc national de Port-Cros, no fires and no smoking in natural areas [11].

Stoves come with finer rules. In the Cévennes, the park’s decree bans lighting fires anywhere other than in homes, but people bivouacking can still use portable stoves, except in certain places and at certain times of year, because of the wildfire risk [1]. The Parc national de forêts, France’s newest national park, tolerates self-contained portable stoves when bivouacking, in line with prefectoral orders, the fire rules issued by the national government’s representative in each département, roughly a county [9]. The Parc national de La Réunion, on the French island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean, only allows fire in permanent masonry fireplaces and on portable gas stoves [12].

Drones and overflights: generally, no

The Mercantour is the most explicit: flying drones is banned throughout its core, and only the park’s director can grant an exemption, on an exceptional basis, for an authorized professional activity. Motorized aircraft are also banned from flying lower than 3,300 feet (1,000 m) above the ground there, except for rescue services [7]. Same rule in the Écrins, where all motorized overflights below 3,300 feet (1,000 m) above the ground are banned [2].

In the Vanoise, the rules ban the use of any object, device, or craft in the airspace for sport or recreation, recreational drones included; even unpowered flight, like paragliding, is only allowed below 3,300 feet (1,000 m) in designated zones and periods [6]. Elsewhere, overflights need a permit. In the Calanques, motorized overflights are among the activities that can’t take place without the park’s prior approval [10]. In the Pyrenees, permits for motorized overflights and for photography and filming are requested online, but drones are excluded from this process: a drone pilot can’t use it [8].

Foraging: flowers, mushrooms, minerals

• Vanoise: no picking or collecting flowers, fruit, insects, or minerals [6].
• Écrins: no picking or collecting animals, plants, minerals, or fossils; traditional activities, such as gathering a few plants and fruits for family use, continue [2].
• Mercantour: capturing, picking, and gathering are banned, except for a limited list of plants for medicinal or culinary use, with set seasons and quantities [7].
• Pyrenees: no picking, no collecting [8].
• Cévennes: a list of sensitive species may not be picked, and the park’s board regulates the rest [1].
• Forêts: foraging is allowed for household use; mushrooms up to 1.3 gallons (5 liters) per person per day, for the listed species, such as porcini, chanterelles, or morels [9].
• Calanques: taking anything from the natural environment requires a permit from the park [10].

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These rules don’t close the parks; they shape how we enjoy them: you come on foot, by day, and leave the flowers where they grow. A well-packed backpack, the dog left with friends if need be, and some of the most beautiful trails in France are waiting for you.

Gallery: the eight parks of mainland France

One real photo for each of the eight national parks in mainland France, with the rule that stands out most there, published under free licenses on Wikimedia Commons by their photographers, who are credited under each image. Tap or click a photo to enlarge it.

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Nolwenn Bastide

Trail running, snow, water, nature and destinations

Nolwenn covers trail running, snow, water, nature and destinations for Outfarer. Curious about everything, from meteor showers to night-train schedules, she has a knack for digging up the one detail that changes everything, and nailing it in a single sentence.

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