The heart of Calabria through four parks

The Ciclovia dei Parchi (cycle route of the parks) crosses the Calabria region longitudinally on the Apennine ridge, covering a protected area of about 350,000 hectares with a truly extraordinary heritage of landscape, biodiversity, plant and animal endemisms. With your gaze open to the landscape, pedal after pedal, here you can rediscover the authentic breath of nature and at the same time enjoy the exciting and malicious panoramas that from the dense woods and forests, passing through villages rich in history, suddenly open up to the auroral light of the cultivated hills overlooking the sea. Between Aspromonte, Sila, Pollino and Serre, the Ciclovia dei Parchi della Calabria offers cycling enthusiasts 545 km of authentic discovery and new experiences between landscape and eco-sustainability. It starts from the Pollino and Orsomarso massifs, among the highest peaks in southern Italy, where, perched on the steep limestone cliffs, lives the tenacious loricate pine, the emblem of the Pollino National Park, which also counts among its ranks the oldest living tree in Europe: Italus, a loricate pine that has seen as many as 1,230 springs. A territory with 75 geosites that since 2015 have become part of the global network of geoparks recognised by UNESCO. The final stage is Reggio Calabria for a total length of 545 km. It crosses the National Parks of Pollino and Sila, the Regional Natural Park of Serre and the Aspromonte National Park. The overall positive difference in altitude is 10,330 m while the negative one is 10,590 m; the maximum altitude reached is 1,560 m, which is reached at km 208, in the Sila Park near Lake Arvo, while the lowest point is at the landing point in Reggio Calabria, at sea level. The journey is structured in 12 stages, covering 31 to 58 km each, with three different levels of difficulty, easy, intermediate or difficult, the most challenging due to the roughness of the Apennines.

Parks Cycling Calabria