These are the characteristics that outline the Garfagnana and the Serchio valley, the wide valley which from the city of Lucca extends along the state road that leads to the winter skiing resort of the Abetone.
A place where the natural predominant make sits mark, a landscape that is almost alien to the views you can enjoy in the rest of the region: the white peaks of the Apuane alternate with mountains where intense green reigns and here and there are small hermitages, small villages and watch towers. All of this lulled by the sound of the waters that run across the centre of the valley.

Then there is the tireless and immutable work of nature which, throughout the centuries , has left tangible traces everywhere, such as the fascinating and only canyon in Tuscany: the Orrido of Botri. A deep calcareous gully created by Mother Nature’s indefatigable work throughout the millennia, where the waters of Rio Pelago run through.

The Orrido of Botri can be visited with nature guides or, if our mountain knowledge allows us, by ourselves equipped with everything you need for a very demanding excursion, with obliged crossings through the ice-cold (even during the summer) waters of the torrent and challenging passages on the rock.

Then there is the Serchio’s high valley where the parco dell'Orecchiella extends, an area that divides in the three reserves «Pania di Corfino», «Lamarossa» and «Orecchiella» managed by the Corpo Forestale dello Stato, immersed in the green of beech, chestnut and Turkey oak woods.

And still in this long valley of the lucchesia another natural beauty attract visitors and all those who love nature in its multifacetedness: the Grotte del Vento. Tunnels, burrows, underground lakes, that lose themselves and criss cross in the depths of the earth.
For information and visits to the park dell'Orecchiella contact the Comunità montana media valle di Serchio at the number +39 0583 883 46.
(Photo: studio Album fotografico - Livorno)

August.2002

Orrido di Botri Reserve (Italian)
Province of Lucca