Hautes-Alpes is located in the Alps mountain range. The average elevations is over 1000 m, and the highest elevation is over 4000 m. The only three sizable towns are Gap, Briançon, and Embrun, which was the subprefecture until 1926.

Briançon, a commune in the Hautes-Alpes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.
At an altitude of 1,326 metres it is the highest city in the European Union, based on the French definition as a community containing more than 2,000 inhabitants. Briançon's most recent population estimate is 11,645.

The Massif des Écrins is one of the most spectacular mountain regions in the whole of the European Alps. Most of the area is a national park, with summits over 3000m high. The area is simply huge - the national park is the largest in France, covering an area of 92,000 hectares with a peripheral zone nearly twice that size. In simple terms it is 30 times bigger than the Chamonix Valley - and criss crossed by well over 1000Km's of well-marked trails.
Hung about with glaciers, more than 100 peaks rise to well over 3000m and hence the reason why this area is referred to as the Hautes Alpes (High Alps) because it comprises the largest concentration of big mountain peaks in France; the Barre des Écrins, the highest mountain in the area and which gives its name to the area, is 4102m.