The Dauphiné Alps () are a group of mountain ranges in Southeastern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, west of the main chain of the Alps. Mountain ranges within the Dauphiné Alps include the Massif des Écrins in

Écrins National Park Écrins National Park (, ; ) is a List of national parks of France, French national park located in the southeastern part of France in the Dauphiné Alps south of Grenoble and north of Gap, Hautes-Alpes, Gap, shared between the Departments of Fra ...

, Belledonne, Le Taillefer range and the mountains of Matheysine.

Etymology

The ''

Dauphiné The Dauphiné ( , , ; or ; or ), formerly known in English as Dauphiny, is a former province in southeastern France, whose area roughly corresponded to that of the present departments of Isère, Drôme and Hautes-Alpes. The Dauphiné was ...

'' () is a former French province whose area roughly corresponded to that of the present departments of :Isère, :Drôme, and :Hautes-Alpes.

Geography

They are separated from the

Cottian Alps The Cottian Alps (; ; ) are a mountain range in the southwestern part of the Alps. They form the border between France (Hautes-Alpes and Savoie) and Italy (Piedmont). The Fréjus Road Tunnel and Fréjus Rail Tunnel between Modane and Susa, Ital ...

in the east by the

Col du Galibier The Col du Galibier (el. ) is a mountain pass in the southern region of the France, French Dauphiné Alps near Grenoble. It is the eighth List of highest paved roads in Europe, highest paved road in the Alps, and recurrently the List of highe ...

and the upper Durance valley; from the western

Graian Alps The Graian Alps (Latin language, Latin:: ''Alpes Graiæ'' ; ; ) are a mountain range in the western part of the Alps, and the name of an Roman province, Antic Rome province. Etymology The name ''Graie'' comes from the ''Graioceli'' Celts, Celt ...

( Vanoise Massif) in the north-east by the river Arc; from the lower ranges

Vercors Plateau The Vercors massif (; ) is a mountain range in eastern France consisting of rugged plateaus and mountains straddling the ''département in France, départements'' of Isère and Drôme in the French Prealps. It lies west of the Dauphiné Alps, ...

and

Chartreuse Mountains The Chartreuse Mountains ( ) are a mountain range in southeastern France, stretching from the city of Grenoble in the south to the Lac du Bourget in the north. They are part of the French Prealps, which continue as the Bauges to the north and ...

in the west by the rivers Drac and

Isère Isère ( , ; ; , ) is a landlocked Departments of France, department in the southeastern French Regions of France, region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Named after the river Isère (river), Isère, it had a population of 1,271,166 in 2019.

. Many peaks rise to more than , with Barre des Écrins (4,102 m) the highest. Administratively the French part of the range belongs to the

French departments In the administrative divisions of France, the department (, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level ("territorial collectivity, territorial collectivities"), between the Regions of France, administrative regions a ...

Hautes-Alpes Hautes-Alpes (; ; ) is a Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region of Southeastern France. It is located in the heart of the French Alps, after which it is named. Hautes-Alpes had a population ...

and

Savoie Savoie (; Arpitan: ''Savouè'' or ''Savouè-d'Avâl''; English: ''Savoy'' ) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Southeastern France. Located in the French Alps, its prefecture is Chambéry. In 2019, Savoie had a population o ...

. The whole range is drained by the Rhone through its

tributaries A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream ('' main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which the ...

. It has been proposed that the height of mountains in the Dauphiné Alps is limited by the

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as Surface runoff, water flow or wind) that removes soil, Rock (geology), rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust#Crust, Earth's crust and then sediment transport, tran ...

caused by small glaciers, causing a topographic effect called the glacial buzzsaw.

Peaks

The chief peaks of the Dauphiné Alps are:

Passes

The chief passes of the Dauphiné Alps are:

References

Maps

* French official cartography (''

Institut Géographique National An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...

'' - IGN); on-line version
www.geoportail.fr
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dauphine Alps Mountain ranges of the Alps Mountain ranges of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Mountain ranges of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Western Alps