LA CAMOSCIARA

LA CAMOSCIARA
From the apartment is just 1 h 45 min. by car.

For many visitors, Pescasseroli is the heart of the Abruzzo National Park, a small “capital city” of this protected area; for others, the highlight of a visit coincides with the arrival at Passo Cavuto, the pass reached by taking the steep path from Civitella Alfedena, and where the Park’s most important nucleus of chamois is located. Nonetheless, the true historical heart of the first Apennine protected area is undoubtedly La Camosciara, the craggy valley that is home to bears, chamois, wolves, lynxes, and deer. They have been able to survive mainly because of the impervious nature of these places, with their dense forests and steep slopes broken by the rocky leaps that close the valley, and which were not worth clearing to create pastures. To reach La Camosciara, Opi or Villetta Barrea, take the SS 83 Marsicana as far as Casone Antonucci, an old stone building used today by the education service as a base for the Park’s volunteer project. The asphalted road for La Camosciara begins here and is closed off by a bar after approximately one kilometre. Cars can be left here and the excursion continued on foot or by bike on the asphalted road that dips slightly and then rises as far as the square of the same name, at 1,100 metres, surrounded by magnificent beech-woods. Here a short nature trails crosses a bridge over the brook and in a few minutes reaches the Cascata delle Ninfe waterfall. Another, steeper woodland trail offers a lovely view of the waterfall from above and in an hour’s climb reaches the Belvedere della Liscia refuge, at 1,440 metres.

The round trip from the bar to the square takes an hour on foot and far less by bicycle.