VAL GRANDE NATIONAL PARK

The Val Grande National Park is situated near Lake Maggiore and it is the widest wild area in Italy. It's 100 km from Milan and 150 km from Turin. It's a one of a kind and out of this world valley, dominated by silence, where nature is the queen. It is a "sanctuary" that should be visited with absolute respect. The Valley is also history. The long tale of a mountain civilization narrated by the places and people that surround this area among Ossola Valley, Verbano, Val Vigezzo, Valle Intrasca and Cannobina. Those who don't reach the middle of the wild zone and stop in one of the surrounding towns can still have "that sensation of wilderness" . In other words, the Val Grande is a valley of great emotions as well as being a Park.

Val Grande was declared a national park in 1991 when it was realized that its 11,733 hectares of oak, beech and alder trees constituted one of the few areas in the country uncontaminated by civilization and still left in its natural state . The vast territory includes the minor valleys of Ossola, Vigezzo and of Lake Maggiore and projects aimed at conservation and environmental protection have only recently been undertaken; for 40 years (circa 1950-1980) the area was abandoned and ignored.
Val Grande is a park on a human scale and can only be visited on foot due to the difficult access of its trails. The territory forms a giant heart-shaped area, its right side (corresponding to Val Pogallo) smaller than its left, and is characterized by the San Bernardino torrent that flows across its rough and rocky peaks (that of Monte Togano, for example). The western side of Val Grande is bordered by the Corni di Nibbio chain includes the famous Pizzo Faié peak.
Turning south it is worth pointing out Cicogna (the little "capital" of Val Grande) and Monte Zeda. From this point on the mountains dissolve into gentler and less impervious peaks.
It is also possible to divide Val Grande into two different parts: upper and lower. The former takes in Val Serena and Val Gabbioto to the west of the Mottàc chain and Val Portaiola to the east. The lower part of the park is characterized by zones in which watercourses have carved deep gullies and plunge over steep precipices.
The green areas of the park are divided equally between grazing pastures and woods (of durmast, linden, birch, willow), while fauna includes chamois, roe deer, fox, badger, weasel, hedgehog, beech-marten, hare, marmot, rodent, and eagle.
Among projects planned for the park are the re-establishment and cleaning up of the trails, the construction of visitors centres at Colloro, Rovegro, Santa Maria Maggiore and Intragna, a historical museum at Malesco and a environmental education centre at Cossogno. Mention must also be made of the restoration of the old stone huts in the area to create "environmentally friendly" visitors' shelters characteristic of Val Grande, the largest wilderness and one of the most important undeveloped areas left in Italy.