Bergamo Orobie Mountains Park

The Bergamo Orobie Mountains Park is a protected area that has been designated a "Mountain Park forest."

It includes the southern side of the Orobie chain of Alps, the provincial territory of Bergamo, and covers an area of 63 thousand hectares.

Its territory is marked by the rivers Brembo, Serio and Dezzo that run through the Brembana, Seriana and Scalve valleys, and several other tributaries that through side valleys.

To the west, the park is bounded by the deep furrow of Valsassina, by the Valtellina to the north and Valcamonica to the east.

It includes a portion of the territory of 44 municipalities, which are considered part of the three mountain communities of the Scalve Valley, the Brembana Valley and the Upper Seriana Valley.

The territory covered by the Bergamo Orobie Mountains Park can be geographically divided into two zones, with highly distinctive characteristics.

The north is made up of a chain of mountains, the Orobie Alps; these mountains are composed of dark and ancient rocks, the continental sedimentary or crystalline type, almost all of which are metamorphosed.

In the south, the Park's mountain ranges are made up by light-coloured rocks, mainly limestone and dolomite rocks of ancient marine origin.

These are the Orobie Pre-Alps, predominantly arranged to form isolated mountain groups: the group of Aralalta (2,000 metres), Arera (2,512 metres), Presolana (2,521 metres) and Campelli di Schilpario.

The Park has an abundant presence of surface water. Streams, creeks and rivers, which occasionally originate from small glacial basins, form foaming waterfalls in the upper parts of their path. More than a hundred lakes are scattered at medium and high altitudes, natural lakes and manmade reservoirs designed to produce electricity. The rivers and lakes in the high mountains add beauty to the landscape and constitute a summer destination for thousands of hikers. In the Park, fishing is permitted in accordance with the rules established by the Regional Law 25/82.

The cooler waters and streams, rivers and lakes are where the brown trout and Artic charr thrive.

The forests, in terms of size and natural value, represent one of the park's finest features and include, among the different altitudinal belts, beech woods, forests of red and white spruce, larch forests, grasslands and high altitude pastures, up to the riparian and nival zone.

The park also has a remarkable presence of native alpine wildlife, with species of particular value, such as the ptarmigan, the golden eagle, and the recent reintroduction of the ibex.