Top 20 Natural Monuments around Segonzano

The bonsai forest rises on a ridge of porphyritic debris. The Scots pines grown on this arid, wind-battered soil have shapes and sizes reminiscent of bonsai, creating a suggestive and very particular environment with charming views to be discovered, framed by panoramic vistas.

Very beautiful forest roads but with some double-digit climbs

Dos Le Grave (or Doss de le Grave) is one of the most interesting natural areas in the Argentario Ecomuseum, in the Monte Calisio area. It features an important biotope that displays two extremely different environmental typologies: a wetland and an arid zone, located respectively at the foot and on the western flank of Dos. A characteristic of this small, semi-desert-like elevation is the striking presence of bonsai-like Scots pines growing on waste material from silver mining (an activity that affected the entire plateau from the 11th to the 15th century). The arid portion is in immediate contact with the wetland below. This peat bog was formed by the filling of a small lake basin. Small bodies of open water still remain from this basin.

The Roccolo del Sauch, in the Cembra Valley, is an ancient system for capturing birds. It is a vegetal construction of beech and fir trees suitably intertwined and pruned, so as to create a practicable tunnel with a grassy clearing in the center. After a large number of birds had landed in the space at the center of the tunnel, the scarecrow was waved from the hut preceded by the birdcatcher's whistle. The horizontal escape took the birds straight towards an almost invisible net stretched between the arches of the tunnel.

Impressive erosion

An integral part of the Argentario Ecomuseum, this body of water is located in a wooded basin at almost 1000 m above sea level, in the southern part of the Cembra Valley. Despite not having significant dimensions (it measures 310 m in length, 120 m in width, and a maximum depth of 8 metres) it represents an element of great landscape importance and a place of incredible naturalistic importance. The geological interest of the basin is given by its location on a fault that separates lava rocks (quartz porphyries) from sedimentary rocks (Calisio limestones). Its origin is very particular: the basin was certainly "worked" by glaciers, as is evident from the smoothing of the large rocks located on the north bank, today characterized by the presence of a dense reed thicket. Tufts of sedges grow almost everywhere, while its waters are surrounded by lush forests of Scots pine. In spring, the wonderful white-pink inflorescences of the fibrino clover emerge in the shallow water areas. Today the ichthyofauna guarantees a high level of fish in the lake, which has at least 10 confirmed species. Mallard ducks, coots and moorhens nest in the reed thicket in spring. But the faunal importance of the lake and the swamp is above all due to the amphibians, which come here in spring from the surrounding areas to mate and lay their eggs: as many as 6 species have been observed to date.

From this panoramic point, not far from Piazzo, it is possible to observe the pyramids of Segonzano in all their grandeur. They are called òmeni in the local dialect due to their resemblance to human beings. They were formed about 50,000 years ago thanks to the erosive action of water on the ground.

beautiful Pyramids to visit for their strangeness