Baroness Ghost Trail

What is our perception of Nature and legends? This trail will immerse us in this combination of sensory experience that is difficult to perceive in other places.

Trail Info

MUNICIPALITIES: Arena, Mongiana, Serra San Bruno (VV)
START: SP 43 starting from Brognaturo, Serravalle direction
END: SP 43 starting from Brognaturo, Serravalle direction
TIME: 4 hours
DISTANCE: 6.6 Km
DIFFERENCE IN ALTITUDE: 118 m
MAXIMUM QUOTE: 1.123 m
MINIMUM QUOTE: 1.005 m
DIFFICULTY: medium

Description

The route is circular, mostly on dirt road with a discontinuous gradient. A perfect route to spend a day in the woods and enjoy landscapes of extraordinary beauty. The site, recognized as a SCI (Site of Community Importance) has as its backdrop an exceptional setting: Lake Lacina, a reservoir of artificial origin that hosts an important reservoir of biodiversity playing a major role in preserving the native ecotypes of this area. Taking provincial road 43, which starts from the municipality of Brognaturo, towards Guardavalle, going uphill you will reach a bend to the right where you can park your car in a small clearing located to the left of the roadway, near the signage, present throughout the route, carefully designated by the Regional Natural Park of the Serre, from which the trail begins. Having started the hike, traveled on an easy path and on natural ground, within a forest of pines, beeches and silver firs, one can immerse oneself with all the senses to make the most of this experience. The colors, typical of the various seasons, paint a particularly striking and relaxing scenery. Obligatory stops are the castle of Baroness Scoppa and the charming lake, which will be crossed along the most scenic shore, where in addition to finding a picnic area, the lucky ones will be able to encounter what makes it important at the community level, the presence of rare or endemic hygrophilous phytocoenoses. In fact, within it is the only Calabrian population of Menyanthes trifoliata (water clover), so flora and fauna of high naturalistic value, or the woodland ghost, the wild cat (Felis silvestris) and Bombina pachypus, the howler toad. Also present is the wolf, which stands at the top of the food chain, but there are also hare, wild boar , italic deer (recently reintroduced by the Serre Park), as well as aquatic avifauna such as the Grey Heron and Great Crested Grebe.

THE BARONESS GHOST

Baroness Scoppa’s Castle, a 16th-century manor house, stands on one of the mountainous elevations surrounding Lacina Lake in the municipality of Cardinale. At one time the castle, a summer residence of the baroness, dominated the Lacina wetland she owned, which was cultivated with wheat. A place of striking natural beauty where the vegetation, which grew luxuriant around the Manor, made the place even more mysterious, where myths and legends related to the noble woman already hover. So a must for hikers who, in addition to immersing themselves in a breathtaking landscape, want to have a mystical experience in search of the ghost of Baroness Scoppa.