Ossau Valley, Mountain valley in Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France
The Ossau Valley extends from Col du Pourtalet at the Spanish border to Arudy, featuring meadows crossed by Gaves d'Ossau and Brousset streams.
The valley developed as a crucial pastoral region where shepherds established traditional huts and paths for their flocks through the Pyrenean mountains.
Local cheese production remains central to the valley's identity, with Ossau-Iraty cheese made exclusively from milk of three regional sheep breeds.
Visitors can access multiple hiking trails from the Maison du Parc information center, which provides details about the Pyrenees National Park paths.
The Petit Train d'Artouste carries passengers at 2000 meters elevation across 10 kilometers, making it the highest railway track in Europe.
Location: Pyrénées-Atlantiques
Part of: Béarn
Shares border with: Pourtalet mountain pass
GPS coordinates: 42.98333,-0.41667
Latest update: May 24, 2025 09:05
France features a notable variety of protected natural areas, showcasing the country’s geological and ecological richness. From Lake Allos in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence to the underground rivers of Padirac in Dordogne, from the mountain ranges of Savoy to the limestone formations of the Ardèche gorges, each region displays landscapes shaped over millennia of natural evolution. This collection gathers sites where nature is expressed freely: primary forests, karst systems, high-altitude lakes, moving dunes of the Atlantic coast, and rock formations carved by erosion. These areas provide diverse ecosystems, home to species adapted to different environments, from Alpine flora and fauna to dune communities and underground cave biodiversity. Each natural site in this selection serves as an open-air laboratory where geological processes, ecosystem dynamics, and living adaptation to local conditions can be observed. These sites invite discovery of authentic landscapes, removed from human impact, where geological time is evident in every rock formation and glacier valley.
Petit train d'Artouste
9.7 km
Pic de Ger
7.3 km
Hôtel des Princes
2.3 km
Lac de Castet
9.8 km
Vallée du Soussouéou
10.1 km
Château de Bielle
8.2 km
Réserve naturelle nationale de la Vallée d'Ossau
8.4 km
Église Saint-Martin d'Aydius
10.3 km
Église de Laruns
1.1 km
Chapelle Notre-Dame d'Assouste
450 m
Chapelle de Gabas
10.3 km
Église Saint-Polycarpe de Castet
9.6 km
Eglise Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Bilhères
8.8 km
Eglise Saint-Vivien de Bielle
8 km
Église Saint-Martin de Louvie-Soubiron
1.8 km
Béost St Jacques church
1.2 km
Église Saint-Laurent d'Aas
1.2 km
Chapelle Notre-Dame de Houndas de Bilhères
9.4 km
Monument aux morts de Bielle
8.1 km
Église Saints-Félix-et-Audacte de Béon
5.6 km
Grotte des Eaux Chaudes
5.5 km
Eglise Saint-Jean-Baptiste-Notre-Dame-des-Infirmes des Eaux-Bonnes
2.5 km
Église Saint-Jean-Baptiste d'Aste
4.3 km
Église Saint-Orience de Gère
4.8 km
Église de l'Assomption-de-la-Bienheureuse-Vierge-Marie d'Eaux-Chaudes
3.8 km
Église Saint-Pierre de Bélesten
5.3 km
Château de Béost
1.2 km
Château de Béon
5.7 kmReviews
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