Walking the Casentino

The park, and why the forest is old

The valley sits inside the Parco Nazionale delle Foreste Casentinesi, Monte Falterona e Campigna, a national park that straddles the ridge between Tuscany and Romagna. What makes it rare is not only the size but the age. For a thousand years the monks of Camaldoli protected and replanted these woods under a forest code so careful it is still studied today.

At its heart, the strict reserve of Sasso Fratino has been left completely alone for decades: no one cuts, plants or clears a single tree. It is old-growth beech forest so intact that in 2017 it was written into UNESCO’s World Heritage list among the ancient beech forests of Europe. Some of those trees are older than any building in the valley.

The walks worth the drive up

• Sentiero delle Foreste Sacre The signature long walk: a multi-day path linking the three sacred places of the forest, the monastery of Camaldoli, the hermitage above it, and the sanctuary of La Verna, by way of Badia Prataglia. Do it in stages, or just walk the best day of it.
• Via di Francesco, the way to Assisi La Verna is a stop on the pilgrim road that St Francis himself walked. Pilgrims still set out from the sanctuary and walk south to Assisi over roughly two weeks. You can walk a single morning of it and turn back with the whole valley behind you.
• The springs of the Arno From the high meadows of Monte Falterona a short climb reaches Capo d’Arno, where the river of Florence begins as a trickle you can step over. Nearby lies the Lago degli Idoli, a mountain pool where the Etruscans once threw bronze offerings into the water.
• Camaldoli and the Foresta della Lama Gentle forest tracks from the monastery, good for families and for a first day out, through silver firs the monks planted in rows you can still read in the trees.
• The ridge, for the strong The Grande Escursione Appenninica runs the whole crest of the Apennines. The Casentino stretch is long, exposed and quiet, and worth it for walkers who already know what they are doing.

Before you set off

The paths carry the red-and-white flashes of the CAI, the Italian Alpine Club, and each has a number. A map from the park visitor centres at Badia Prataglia or Pratovecchio Stia, or a downloaded offline one, saves you when the phone signal does not, and up here it often does not.

Treat it as a mountain, because it is one. The weather turns, the light goes early under the canopy, and there is real silence to be had. Late spring through October is the kind season. In autumn the forest fills with the bellowing of red deer in the rut, an extraordinary thing to hear from the path, and a good reason to keep to it. Take out whatever you take in.

Walks and guided outings coming up

The valley’s Pro Loco groups, park guides and walking clubs run outings all year, from gentle village loops to full days on the ridge. Here is what is on the agenda now.

• 23Jul Kids on bikes Subbiano · Outdoors
• 23Jul Kids on bikes Capolona · Outdoors
• 25Jul Night sensory walk in the ancient forest of Camaldoli Poppi · Outdoors
• 26Jul From Camaldoli Hermitage to Monte Penna Poppi · Outdoors
• 29Jul Breath and nature yoga Chiusi della Verna · Outdoors
• 02Aug Archery dragon tournament Pratovecchio Stia · Outdoors

The whole calendar →

The strict reserve of Sasso Fratino has been left untouched for so long that no one fells, plants or clears a single tree in it. It is one of the last places in Italy where you can see what the forest does entirely on its own.