From Castel del Monte, on horseback through the parks of Puglia, Lucania and Calabria

Sunday 21 April the Alta Murgia National Park will launch the “Journey of the 3 Parks”, a horseback adventure to discover three national protected areas, a journey through the geological treasures of Southern Italy which winds for 350 km through the parks of Alta Murgia (Puglia), the Lucanian Apennines (Basilicata) and Pollino (Calabria). Three parks and a single itinerary, to encourage the promotion of equestrian tourism and the valorisation of the geological and environmental heritage, promoting sustainability.

The initiative was born from a memorandum of understanding signed between the Park Authority and Natura a Cavallo, to encourage the spread of new bridle paths intended for sustainable tourism in the Alta Murgia. Beating heart of “Journey of the 3 Parks” it is the realization of a “geotrail” which winds through the three regions involved, developing on a network of natural infrastructures made up of paths, routes within protected areas, mule tracks, natural-surface rolling stock and transhumance tracks. A new itinerary to promote knowledge of geodiversity and its greater protection, as part of the ongoing candidacy for UNESCO Geopark.
In the Alta Murgia National Park the itinerary crosses an area of ​​geological interest and landscape, offering those who participate the opportunity to admire geosites, rural architecture and valuable natural areas. The journey opens on Sunday in Castel del Monte at 9.30 am, with the first three stages in Alta Murgia (21-23 April) which will touch on Bosco Finterno, the Cavone sinkhole, the Bauxite mines, the Senarico and Trullo di Sotto woods, Rocca del Garagnone, the Murge Alte escarpment, the Grava di Faraualla, the Pulicchio woods and sinkhole, the Gravina syndepositional fault, the Gravina di Gravina, Torre di Belmonte and the Bosco Difesa Grande.

«The Alta Murgia National Park is pleased to be the starting point of the Journey of the 3 Parks – declares the president Francesco Tarantini –, an opportunity to encourage the development of equestrian tourism as a form of sustainable enjoyment. A geo-itinerary for connect three parks of Southern Italy through the recovery of the protected sheep track network, paths and historic routes, contributing to diversifying the tourist offer and expanding knowledge of geodiversity, in this crucial phase which sees us as candidates for a Geopark.»
The entire route will be georeferenced by the Natura a Cavallo riderswho will deliver the tracks to the Park Authority creating new bridle paths for geotourism and horse riding.