Guardiaregia-Campochiaro WWF Oasis Nature Reserve

One of the largest and wildest oases managed by the WWF in Italy. It protects 3,135 hectares of woods, gullies and karst areas on the mountains behind Guardiaregia and Campochiaro, pushing south to the divide of the Mutria and Palumbaro mountains: largely unspoilt environments, inhabited by wolves and wildcats, kites and golden eagles, deer and... spectacled salamanders, a rare Italian species that has become the symbol of the Reserve. 

The territory includes three different natural environments. The nearest to Guardiaregia, where the Visitor Centre is located, are the Quirino (or Arcichiaro) gorges, one of the most evocative canyons in the entire Apennines, and the San Nicola waterfall, 100 metres high. The other environments are the karst area of the mountains southwest of Campochiaro, where the enormous caves of Pozzo della Neve (7 km long and 1048 m deep) and Cul di Bove (3 km long and 913 m deep) open, and the gullies of Mount Mutria (1823 m), including that of Cusano, with steep walls and covered with beech trees. In summer there are many opportunities for excursions, even guided (by reservation) along 7 different trails: the shortest is the Deer Trail near Campochiaro, around a wildlife area for the protection of deer, and the San Nicola Nature Trail, from the Visitor Centre towards the Quirino gorges; one of the most challenging is the one that leads to the Mutria.