Environment and Territory - Piemonte Feel

The area of the Comunità Montana Valli Orco e Soana includes eleven communities (Alpette, Ceresole Reale, Frassinetto, Ingria, Locana, Noasca, Pont Canavese, Ribordone, Ronco Canavese, Sparone, Valprato Soana), is mostly mountainous, and about one-half of it consists of the Gran Paradiso National Park - the oldest park in Italy. Before the park was established, this area was already popular as a holiday spot and some of the last steenboks in Europe live here; this is the reason that King Vittorio Emanuele II established the Royal Hunting Reserve in 1864, built a dense network of mule tracks - which still today offer easy access even at high altitudes, and established a specialized body of guards. Then, following cession to the State of Italy, the Gran Paradiso National Park was born, which today represents one of the most important protected areas in Italy. The Orco and Soana Valleys offer, therefore, a wide spectrum of landscapes: from extensive fields and pastures with multicolored flowers to narrow gorge openings with deeply carved rock; from thick pine woods to medieval hamlets and tiny mountain communities; plus, the large number of lakes, striking waterfalls and cascades of ice, severe cliffs and deep green valleys, splendid panoramic spots, and the superb mountain summits outlined against “postcard-like” skies.