The Peschiera stream runs through Bosco Magnano, and its clear water sets the tone for everything else: dense vegetation and, so they say in San Severino Lucano, the otter that still lives here. We are on the north-eastern flank of the massif, at the point where the Sinni valley gives way to the Pollino National Park, and the wood acts as the gateway on that side. Administratively it is a district of Chiaromonte; the stream that cuts through it then goes down to meet the Frido, a few kilometres below San Severino Lucano.
What to see
The wood is a beech forest, and the wildlife is the reason to stop. Red deer were brought back here by a repopulation project that has now succeeded, to the point that you can catch sight of them in the wild while walking. Rarer is the other resident, Sciurus meridionalis, the black squirrel: one of the most curious animals in Italy, and one of the hardest to see.
Visiting
Come at it from below, from the Sinni valley: that is the side from which the wood shows itself best, a compact mass of beeches set against the start of the mountain. There is no gate and no opening time, this is a piece of national park; the landmark remains the Peschiera, seventeen kilometres in all, one of the main watercourses of the Pollino.
Our editors' tip
Take it as a beginning rather than a destination: from here the road climbs towards San Severino Lucano, goes on to the hamlet of Mezzana and ends at the sanctuary of the Madonna del Pollino, 1537 metres above the Frido valley. First, though, go down to the Peschiera and stay ten minutes in silence: you will not see the otter, but that is the water that persuaded it to stay.
