Among lakes and glaciers, cliffs and forests, castles and ancient ravines!

The Adamello Brenta Natural Park is the most vast protected area in Trentino. Situated in western Trentino, it covers 620 square kilometres and comprises of the Adamello and Brenta mountain groups, branching from Val Rendena and inclusive of the valleys of Non, Sole and Giudicare.

Where?

The Adamello Brenta Natural Park is located in the Alpi Retiche, in the south-central sector of the Italian alpine chain. Located in western Trentino between Giudicarie, Val di Non and Val di Sole, it covers two broadly diverse geomorphologic areas: the Dolomiti di Brenta Group and the granite massif of Adamello-Presanella. The two mountain groups are split from Val Rendena by the course of the Sarca river. An aspect of interest of the Park is also the presence of 48 lakes and the glacier of Adamello, one of the largest in Europe.

Environment

The environment of the park is typical of the south-central arc of the Alps, predominantly characterised by low coniferous forests clinging to the sides of the mountains up to an altitude of 1800m. Over and above this height the forests, which occupy one third of the area of the park, give way to alpine meadows and lichen covered rocks that extend far above 2500m.

The territory of the park is extremely articulate and diverse: forests of fir, larch and beech, fields quilted with flowers, meadows, pastures, streams, bogs an inaccessible cliffs. At high altitudes the landscapes are spectacular and unique, dominated by the marked geological and geomorphological diversity of the two mountain massifs.

Mountain pastures and alpine farms

The mountain pastures and the alpine farms are a fundamental trait of the mountain culture within the Adamello Brenta Natural Park. They are the key elements that symbolise the ancient link between man and nature and the ways they have evolved over time tells us the story of this ancient union.

Tastes and Traditions

To be able to know and understand a certain place it is fundamental to taste it: the flavours of a place express a mix of the history of its people, the scents of its land and the freshness of its waters.
In the Adamello Brenta Natural Park district there is a lively group of local producers. Thanks to their wide knowledge of the traditions, they wisely transform the riches coming from fields and woods into a delicious variety of gastronomic offerings.
The products of the Park are the result of a careful selection process: they all come from local farms whose aim is to deliver healthy and high quality goods. The honey producers and the cheesemongers can also obtain a further guarantee from the Park: the "Qualità Parco" mark that certifies the products' compliance with the hygiene and biological standards.
Yoghurt, apples, cheese, walnuts, the ancient "ciuiga" salami: every flavour speaks of a village, a valley, a plateau and about their inhabitants.

Castles and churches

Ancient lands are enclosed within the borders of the Park. Legendary kings and prophetesses, warriors and princesses have walked on them and now carry the signs of a long story of raids, murders, assaults and struggles between blue blooded families. Their past marked by blood and power struggles is present along the roads that often retrace the ancient routes linked by bridges, towers and the numerous castles that today still cover the valley floors and the hillsides. Of the families ancient contentions for the most panoramic spots to have control over the territory few are left: melancholic ruins overgrown with trees and those names that in the ancient times would fill the farmers with terror: Nanno, Flavon, Belasi, Sporo.
Proud and audacious peoples lived the valleys of the Park: originally pagan worship tied them strongly to the land and their ferocious resistance to the christianisation is legendary: How can one forget the legend of bishop Virgilio's murder, which gave the name to the village of Mortaso? And the pogrom of the saints Sisinio and Martirio by the ferocious inhabitants of Val di Non?
However, the farmers are the true protagonists who in the centuries have shaped, lived and endured the wild mountain valleys of this territory. Witness today of their silent lives are the ancient alpine farms and the villages abandoned after terrible plagues - such as Iron and Cerana - or destroyed and never rebuilt, which have left behind only a name or a legend. Their knowledge and their culture today can be found in the names of places, for example Tassullo or Carisolo, in the devotional frescos that still decorate the outside walls of the buildings, and finally in the houses themselves, in the squares and fountains carrying the signs of the farmers' hard work and hopes, which give a unique insight to the Park.