In 1922, King Vittorio Emanuele III signed the decree that established the Gran Paradiso National Park in an area between Piedmont and Aosta Valley, the only mountain with a height of over 4000 meters entirely in Italian territory. There are five main park valleys: Val di Rhêmes, Val di Cogne, Valsavarenche, Valle Orco and Val Soana. The park lies in the catchment area of the river Orco in the south and of the river Dora Baltea in the nord. The largest and picturesque lakes of the park are in the surrounding area of the Colle of Nivolet where rises the Savara river that flows into the Dora Baltea. Inside the park there is the “Great Lakes region” considered the heart of the national park: from the banks of these ponds the glance sweeps over the main peaks of the Gran Paradiso and the Levanne Massif and offers an incredible panorama thanks also to the spectacular waterfalls, like those of Lillaz in Aosta Valley. The animal symbol of the park is the ibex: the adult male can weigh over 100 kg and horns can be up to 100 cm. You can see many other animals such as deer, eagles, foxes and marmots. Within the park are set up numerous shelters, in addition to the camps for mountaineers and hikers. They each have different periods of opening and closing.