Nature parks
The Gran Bosco di Salbertrand Regional Nature Park
Category: Parks
The interesting feature of the Bosco di Salbertrand (Salbertrand Woods) is its expanse of silver fir and Norway spruce which covers a seven hundred hectare protected area at an altitude of between 1,300 and 1,800 meters. This is the only area in the western Alps with a significant number of Norway spruce because the tree is not suited to a continental climate with a dry summer. It’s not by chance that, beginning in the 18th century, the trunks of Salbertrand’s evergreens were used for the girders of major architectural works such as the Basilica of Superga and the Venaria Reale Castle. The park has about eighty nesting species – including numerous birds-of-prey - and four species of hoofed animals: chamois, boar, deer, and roe.
For excursion lovers, the park offers the possibility of trekking over a bit of the Sentiero dei Franchi, the route that Charlemagne’s army probably took when it descended into Italy; there are also the routes of the Grande Traversta delle Alpi (GTA) to follow, which stop at the Arlaud Refuge. A few kilometers from Salbertrand, the Fort if Exilles was built; a bastion erected around 1100, it was modernized several times, until 150 years ago, in order to adapt to new military demands.
Information
Area: 2,775 hectares
Altitude: 1,050 – 2, 692 meters
Founded: 1980
Environment: mountain
E-mail: parco.salbertrand@ruparpiemonte.it
www.parks.it/parco.granbosco.salbertrand
Head Office
Via Fransua Fontan 1, 10050 Salbertrand (To)
Tel. +39.0122.854720 - Fax: +39.0122.854421
