Aargau Jura Park (''Jurapark Aargau'') is located north of

Aarau Aarau (, ) is a List of towns in Switzerland, town, a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality, and the capital of the northern Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Aargau. The List of towns in Switzerland, town is also the capital of the dis ...

, between the rivers Aare and Rhine, in the

Swiss canton The 26 cantons of Switzerland (german: Kanton; french: canton ; it, cantone; Sursilvan and Surmiran: ; Vallader and Puter: ; Sutsilvan: ; Rumantsch Grischun: ) are the member states of the Swiss Confederation. The nucleus of the Swiss Co ...

Aargau Aargau, more formally the Canton of Aargau (german: Kanton Aargau; rm, Chantun Argovia; french: Canton d'Argovie; it, Canton Argovia), is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eleven districts and its capita ...

. It straddles the border between Jura and

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

. It spans and reaches up to above the valley floor. The park is mainly located on the Jurassic Plateau, between Frick and

Villigen Villigen is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Brugg (district), Brugg in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Aargau in Switzerland. In January 2006, Villigen incorporated the former municipality of Stilli. The Paul ...

, and also encompasses the Aargau Jura mountains and valleys. The northern area includes sparse pine forests, fruit orchards, rocky steppes, dry meadows and terraced vineyards, while the southern region fosters forests and wildlife. It was declared a regional nature park of national importance in 2012 by the

Federal Office for the Environment The Federal Office for the Environment (german: Bundesamt für Umwelt; french: Office fédéral de l'environnement; it, Ufficio federale dell'ambiente) is the Swiss environmental agency, a division of the Federal Department of Environment, ...

. The villages Herznach and Wölfinswil traditionally mined ore in the park and thus, left many studs. A mining tunnel was excavated and made accessible to visitors.

See also