From the Laurel Grove to the Pond
- Trail Conditions: On foot
- Interest: Flora, Wildlife
The itinerary leaves from behind the small wooden house near the car park. After crossing the first of the many small wooden bridges you will find along the way, go round the small laurel and elm woodland (the laurel grove), the more or less circular maquis area ("macchia") after which the Nature Reserve has been named.
Towards the inland, you will enjoy the panorama of Monti della Tolfa, on the left of the silica quarry, and of the more recent Colli Ceriti on the right, in the past islands of a not very deep sea that has been gradually filled in by the sediments gathered by the inland rivers. Their structure, mainly consisting of lava, bring us back to the restless periods of the far volcanic past that has deeply influenced the morphology of the Province of Rome.
The first section of the itinerary ends with a stop at the "pond", a small circular depression transformed, thanks to a constant water supply, into a charming perennial pond, the realm of dragonflies and frogs.
If you slowly get closer to the stretch of water, you might see a grass snake sunbathing out of the water before it can quickly dive into it.
