Difficulty level
E
Hiking
The Caselli waterfall and the Renzano forest
The starting point of the trail is signposted at the entrance to the reserve and can be reached by footpath (approx. 1.7 km) or dirt road (approx. 2.5 km) open to traffic only on certain weekends, and for a maximum of 25 cars. We recommend avoiding the section of the route that leads to the Sterza stream after heavy rain days.
The WATERFALL CAN ALSO BE REACHED WITHOUT WALKING THE ENTIRE ROUTE; FROM THE ENTRANCE TO THE RESERVE FOLLOW THE STRAIGHT ROAD KEEPING LEFT AT THE ONLY CROSSROAD. The walk’s overall length is …. Kilometres.
The route starts from the Caselli small lake, the only real wet area of the Reserve, which played a strategic role for the ecology and the fauna. The route will then lead you to the Fattoria di Caselli, located at the centre of the Conti della Gherardesca estate, which today houses reception services and facilities to help enjoy the Reserve in a sustainable way.
The stables, a small castle and small church with an adjoining cemetery are parts of the original structure that have been preserved. Descending rapidly to the dirt road of the Reserve you can cross the small bridge over the Rivivo stream and, surrounded by a luxuriant turkey oak wood at the bottom of the valley you will then skirt along the Sterza up until the point where its roaring waters, in rainy days, will signal the presence of a beautiful waterfall, which you can reach by a short diversion.
Leaving the stream, the forest road climbs up through the Renzano wood, an uncommon forest in this climate, where, alongside the turkey oak, ash, apple and field elm grow, favoured by damp soils rich in resurgent water. A downhill path then leads back to the Sterza stream, which can be forded near the confluence with the Rivivo, and then you can take the way back walking along a beautiful turkey oak wood.