The Parco Nazionale delle Foreste Casentinesi(National Park), Monte Falterona, Campigna, covers an area of about 36.000ha, equally divided between Emilia Romagna and Tuscany, included the provinces of Forlì-Cesena, Arezzo and Florence. The Park extends along the Apennine ridge of Tuscany and Emilia Romagna, with a lot of valleys on both sides of the ridge. On the tuscan side the valleys have sweets slopes and there is a large valley bottom made by the river Arno. On the other side the municipalities of Bagno di Romagna, Santa Sofia, Premilcuore, Portico-San Benedetto and Tredozio are included in the National Park.
On the tuscan side there are the municipalities of Poppi, Bibbiena, Chiusi della Verna, Pratovecchio, Stia and finally Mugellani di San Godenzo and Londa.
Podere "Il Corniolino" is in the middle of the National Park (Parco Nazionale delle Foreste Casentinesi), surrounded by natural beauties and wild animals. You can visit the Park and its 36.000ha, on foot, during pleasant excursions; by bike, horse or, during the winter season, using excursions skis and snowshoes, along about 600km of footpaths.
In the Park you can find footpaths dedicated to experts, but at the same time the Park offers 9 short natural footpaths: these footpaths are easily accessible and they show all the particularities that you can meet along the way. These footpaths are not easy to see, if you are not very alert and prepared. Furthermore, in Campigna and Badia Prataglia (only 5km from Podere "Il Corniolino"), there are two special footpaths named "footpaths for all… the senses" and they are accessible by everyone.
On the territory there are some Visit Centers, important points of access and orientation for visitors, and also some Information Points. Furthermore there are a lot of equipped parking areas with tables, benches, furnaces and drinking water fountains.
The Park is characterized by a great varieties of trees: chestnuts, firs, beeches and oak trees and, in these woods of rare beauty, you can admire the legendary boar and the majestic deer, without to forget squirrels, dormouse, foxes, beech martens, fallow deers, roes. You can see also the barn owl, the owl, the jay, the tawny owl. Along the streams whit the faster water you can find the blackbird who is immersed in the limpid water searching some food. And than, you can see the red frog, the italic frog, the cross-country lizard and the trout, the real queen of the rivers.
Podere "Il Corniolino" is very close (only 5 minutes) to the famous Eremo di Camaldoli (Hermitage of Camaldoli), where there is also the ancient monks’ pharmacy (Antica Farmacia dei Monaci Camaldolesi). The first curative and pharmaceutical activities go up to 1048. The Sacred Hermitage and the Monastery of Camaldoli are surrounded by the millenary forest of the Apennines of Tuscany and Emilia Romagna. A landscape of extraordinary beauty, which infuses quietness and dilates the spirit. It is the emblem of the history and the spiritual identity of Camaldoli.
The Castle of Poppi (Castello di Poppi) is the main monument of Casentino. As opposed to a lot of castles and medieval architectures of the area, it hasn’t been ruined by time and men, because it has been used as the residence of political or administrative local power. From its origins the story of the castle is strictly bound to the story of the biggest feudal family of Casentino: the Conti Guidi Family. Poppi was in the center of the proprieties of this family, which lived in the castle for almost 400 years.
Among the guests of the castle, it is impossible to not mention the "top poet" Dante Alighieri, who has been hosted in this castle in 1310 for almost a year, and here he written the 33rd song of the Divine Comedy.
In 40 minutes by car, from Podere "Il Corniolino" you arrive to the Franciscan Sanctuary of La Verna (Santuario francescano della Verna). This is the most famous convent of Casentino, and it is the real heart of the franciscan cult. This place is also famous because here S. Francesco received the stigmas in 1224. It is located at 1128m high, and it is the destination of a lot of pilgrimages.
Using your car you can arrive, in only 30 minutes, from Podere "Il Corniolino" to a particular mountain of Casentino: Pratomagno. Here you will have the possibility to do very long walks. The name of this mountain itself explains the particularity of this place. "Prato" means "lawn" and "Magno" means "very big". So, it is a big and large lawn along the ridge. You can find wild bovines and horses and the slopes are covered by woods of beeches, chestnuts, oaks and firs. The mountain of Pratomagno is almost 1600m high and it is delimited to the east, south and west by the river Arno. The west side of the mountain is particularly suitable to the free fly, an activity practiced in the areas of Reggello and Vallombrosa. Also bicycle lovers and excursionists go to Pratomagno.
You can arrive to Stia from Podere "Il Corniolo" in only 25 minutes by car. Stia is an ancient village with years of history and its famous central square, named Piazza Tarlati. For years, this village produces a special fabric, which you can find only here in Casentino. It is a very particular fabric named like the valley: "Panno del Casentino".