Orecchiella Park

Nestled between the rocky peaks of the Alpi Apuane and the beech forests of the Appennino Toscano in Garfagnana lies an extensive protected area known as the Parco dell’Orecchiella. The landscape is dominated by a vast plateau and the Pania di Corfino limestone massif. This territory spans over 5,000 hectares, rising from 600 metres to 2,045 metres above sea level, where nature reigns supreme. Yet visitor facilities and educational centres are also available for the many people who come here. The State Forest Service Visitor Centre, spread across three floors, is an essential point of reference for the park (which also houses a Botanical Garden).

The Centre houses a technical office, forestry accommodation, a library and research laboratory, a conference room with screening facilities, and a Natural History Museum. The latter was designed to develop interactive educational units for both school groups and individual visitors. It explores environmental themes and recreates the typical habitats, illustrating all aspects of the Orecchiella’s natural environment: beech forests, high-altitude meadows, rocky cliffs and pasturelands.

Getting there

car: From Lucca, take the SS 12 del Brennero to Chifenti; then SS 445 to Castelnuovo Garfagnana; then SS 324 to Castiglione G.na; follow the SP towards Corfino from where signs to the park are posted (67 km from Lucca). From San Romano in Garfagnana take SP no. 16
parking: free parking available, including for motorhomes and coaches
public transport: Train to Castelnuovo Garfagnana or Piazza al Serchio, then hired minibuses.

Botanical Garden

Established in 1984 on the initiative of the Comunità Montana della Garfagnana, the “Pania di Corfino” Botanical Garden showcases the most significant plant species found in the Parco dell’Orecchiella. The garden occupies a large clearing in the beech forest on the southern slopes of Pania di Corfino, at 1,370 metres altitude within the Parco Naturale dell’Orecchiella.
Among the cultivated and collected species are rare and endangered plants, as well as the wild flora of the Luccan Appennines traditionally used in folk medicine and by the populations of the Upper Garfagnana region.
A visit to the Botanical Garden allows not only observation of the numerous plant species on display but also serves as a short nature excursion, with reconstructed natural habitats of the Upper Luccan Appennines such as heathlands, rocky outcrops, scree slopes and peat bogs, pastures and woodlands.

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