Monte Foltrone e Valle degli Scoiattoli

Behind Campli the land climbs fast into the Monti Gemelli: Monte Foltrone, the summit the locals call simply the Montagna di Campli, and below it the Valle degli Scoiattoli, a woodland valley laced with CAI trails. Beech woods, gorges, waterfalls and dolomite-style rock walls sit near the Adriatic — a natural counterpoint to the borgo's historic sites.

Why it matters

This is the naturalistic face of a destination better known for its sanctuary and archaeology, and it is startlingly close at hand: the municipal portal describes the valley as opening just minutes from the fascinating historic centre. The area belongs to the Monti Gemelli, whose southern symmetric summit takes the name Montagna di Campli, and falls within the orbit of the Gran Sasso-Laga National Park — a rare position where Apennine high country almost touches the coastal plain. Gabriele d'Annunzio, in his Notturno of 1921, sang these mountains as "la montagna grande", celestial and snow-bright. The mountain backdrop helps explain the landscape surrounding Campli's sanctuaries and historic centre.

What to notice

The mountain shows a steeply varied character: densely forested slopes, mysterious beech woods, spectacular gorges, waterfalls and dolomite-like rock walls packed into a short radius. The Valle degli Scoiattoli itself is rich in climbing crags, both single-pitch and alpine in style, and the high ground carries traces of old land use, including a documented high-altitude agro-pastoral settlement, the spring called Fonte delle Iaccere, the upland of Pian dell'Oro and the place known as Sant'Eremo. From the summit ridge the view runs from the Gran Sasso massif to the Adriatic. The valley's name, Valle degli Scoiattoli, reflects its woodland fauna. The contrast with the necropolis plain below, where the same landscape was domesticated three thousand years ago, is part of the experience.

Context and history

Historic and maintained trails connect Monte Foltrone, the Valle degli Scoiattoli and the surrounding uplands. Their routes reflect the long relationship between mountain settlements, woodland and pastoral land use.