Nebrodi Mountains

The Nebrodi run about seventy kilometres along the northern coast and carry the largest forest in Sicily, mostly beech growing near its southern limit in Europe, with cork oak, holm oak and Turkey oak lower down. The Biviere di Cesarò and other upland lakes fill and shrink with the season, and some disappear entirely in dry years. Griffon vultures were reintroduced to the range and now breed there. Semi-wild black Nebrodi pigs and San Fratello horses graze the woods, and provola cheese is made in the mountain villages. The park covers about eighty-six thousand hectares.

Background

Together with the Madonie and the Peloritani, the Nebrodi make up the Sicilian Apennines. The range stretches from the Peloritani in the east to the foothills of the Madonie in the west, faces the Tyrrhenian Sea to the north, and is divided from Mount Etna to the south by the Alcantara and Simeto rivers. Several summits pass 1500 meters, the highest being Monte Soro at 1,847 m and Serra del Re at 1,754 m. Sandstone and clay make up most of the rock, though limestone appears too, as at the Rocche del Crasto, where the Grotta del Lauro is full of stalactites and stalagmites. The park was created on 4 August 1993 and covers 856.87 km2.

Source: Wikipedia, "Nebrodi"

What you'll find

• The beech forest - Sicily's largest woodland at beech's southern limit.
• The seasonal lakes - upland waters that shrink or vanish in dry years.
• The griffon vultures - a reintroduced breeding population.
• The black pigs - semi-wild Nebrodi pigs grazing the woods.

When to go

May to October; autumn colour in the beech is the strongest draw and mushroom season follows. Winter brings snow to the tops and closes some roads.

Things to know

Roads across the range are slow and winding with almost no public transport. Trail marking is patchy. Villages have limited services out of season.

Nearby

The Madonie lie west; Tindari is on the coast east.

Key facts