Walk among spruces and silver firs, larches, and beeches. Observe the many species that live in the undergrowth. Breathe in deep and enjoy a rejuvenating walk.
We are in Cadore, in a place called Palus San Marco. Surrounded by Cristallo, Sorapiss and Marmarole and crossed by the Ansiei stream, the Somadida Nature Reserve is one of the most beautiful forests in the Dolomites. Formerly a timber reserve for the Serenissima Republic, which used it for spars for sails and masts for ships, today, the protected area covers 1,676 hectares and contains a small nature museum and a mountain hut used as a library.
There are several trails that run through the reserve, ranging from easy walks to more demanding hikes and via ferrata climbs.
The views you will encounter are varied: on the valley floor extensive forests of Spruce, Silver Fir, Beech with some Larches and areas dotted with Bird Catcher Tree, Whitebeam, Sycamore Maple, and Willow. Instead, as you ascend, you will encounter Mountain Pine, Rhododendron, Cranberry and Blackberry, and even higher up, wonderful carpets of various species of Dwarf Willows, Alpine Germander, and flowering meadows contrasting with rock.
Curiosities
- The Carabinieri Biodiversity Department in Vittorio Veneto offers weekly guided tours (usually on Tuesdays) during July and August, through the on-site coordination of the Carabinieri Biodiversity Unit in Palus San Marco.
- The Carabinieri Biodiversity Department of Vittorio Veneto and the “Fameia dei Zàter e Menadàs del Piave” Association of Codissago di Castellavazzo (BL) have made a life-size specimen of “raso,” a characteristic Venetian raft, inside the Somadida State Reserve, using logs felled by Storm Adrian in October 2018.
- The Somadida Forest is one of the routes of the Accessible Dolomites project.
- In 2015, a Butterfly Garden was opened in the Forest; the project aims to raise awareness of the importance of butterflies and to protect them. With the proper interventions, plants and shrubs sought after by these insects were planted. This is to make the butterflies live better without introducing essences that are not local.
