Parco Nazionale delle Foreste Casentinesi

The National Forest of Casentinesi, established in 1993 is 36400 hectares and is the best preserved woods and forests in Italy. The highest spot is Monte Falteronea at 1654 m and this peak represents the borders of the provinces of Florence, Arezzo and Forli-Cesna. Stephen on the left there looks like the cartoon Judge Doom after he got ran over by a steamroller in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?"

Our Tuscan Flickr

We hiked to a nearby peak, called Monte Gabrendo which had an elevation of 1539 m and incredible views. It was a very cold and windy afternoon with dark clouds but otherwise was an great hike.

The forest is home to wolf, deer, roe deer and golden eagles and we did see some signs of wild animals. It is on the Apennine Ridge of mountains and the rock is sandstone and the forests are primarily beech and coniferous. There is a trail to a waterfall which is the site of Dante's exile from Florence and in one of the villages within the park there is an annual egg festival with a hard-boiled egg eating contest.

We ran up the final big steep rise to the peak together, and then Olaf challenged the boys to run down and back in <5 min. They both went under 4 for an elevation gain of at least 50-60 m!

This picture was from Poppi earlier in the day, but it's far too cool to leave out!