Nature & adventure

As you ride southward, you arrive at one the most important biosphere reserves listed among the UNESCO world heritage sites: the Sila National Park. Known historically as the “Great woodland of Italy” - as most of the wood intended for the building sites and craftsman's workshops of ancient Greece came from this area - this nature preserve is entirely covered in ancient woods and forests. The area is characterised by a rich aquifer that converges in three artificial lakes, that make the landscape even more extraordinary: the Cecita, Arvo and Ampollino lake. The Ariamacina lakes are smaller stretches of water of equal beauty. The Park boasts nine biogenetic nature reserves. One of the most important is the “Giganti della Sila” (Giants of the Sila) reserve in Fallistro. The most peculiar tree species is the black pine (Pinus nigra) of Calabria, which grows together with beech trees, silver firs, oaks, chestnuts, maple trees and lime trees. Wolves, which are the most common animals in this area, move stealthily across the thick woodlands. Here you can enjoy a wide range of sports and outdoor activities: adventure parks, trips, orienteering, sailing and canoeing, archery, bird-watching, sled dog racing, cross-country and downhill skiing, on tracks that are accessible also through the famous steam train of the Sila, with its wagons that seem to be travelling through time.

Past the Serre reserve, the cycle network arrives at the Aspromonte national park, which overlooks the two seas that borders Calabria, as well as the Strait of Messina and Sicily. With over 1500 species, the park’s flora has no equal. Among the rarest ones, it is worth mentioning the chain fern (Woodwardia radicans), which is a living relic from the Tertiary Period. At low altitudes, the landscape is marked by lush Mediterranean maquis and holm oak forests. The beech forest of Monte Scorda and Zervò is one of the most fascinating. There are eighty-nine sites of geological interest, which applied to become members of the UNESCO Global Geoparks network, including: the valley of the Great Stones, with the wonderful Pietra Cappa (a monolith, symbol of the Aspromonte Park); the dolomitic landscape of the Canolo; the Mundu and Galasia rainfalls; the marine and continental terraces and the Fiumare valleys. The local fauna is extremely rich and boasts, besides the wolf, many rare species such as the little forest dormouse, the Hermann's tortoise and the Rosalia longicorn, as well as many migratory birds, birds of prey and storks, which can be observed from a roof terrace at Piani d’Aspromonte. Here you can walk, hike, ride a horse and enjoy many other outdoor activities all year round, even in the adventure parks. The park is also the ideal location for winter sports enthusiasts thanks to a variety of ski resorts.