Nature: Antey-Saint-André, La Magdeleine, Saint-Denis, Torgnon, Verrayes, ** Valle d'Aosta **

The Mont Avic Park, first natural park in the Aosta Valley, preserves since 1989 the natural resources of the upper Chalamy stream valley in the municipality of Champdepraz and, since 2003 the Dondena valley, in the territory of Champorcher.

The protected area is characterised by extremely captivating landscapes and environments only marginally affected by human activities.
Crossing the paths that meander through the protected area gives visitors the chance to come into contact with particularly interesting and various natural aspects: rugged and characteristic geological formations, floral alpine endimisms and peculiar plant associations tied to the green rock substratum. The largest mountain pine forest (pinus uncinata) in the region with a couple dozen ponds, marshes and peat bog, it is unrivalled in number and in extension in the Aosta Valley. All the most widespread alpine animals in the region are represented.

You can hike along the park paths all year round. Most of the paths are snow-covered from November to May and only advisable for experts with appropriate equipment. Some paths can be ridden on horseback or on mountain bike.

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Col de Joux (1640m) is a woody pass linking Saint-Vincent with Brusson, and is thus a beautiful alternative route to the road that goes up from Verrès, to reach Val d’Ayas.
It runs past charming hamlets and goes through beautiful woods, providing wonderful views of the central valley and Val d’Ayas.
The word “Joux” has pre-Latin origins and means woody highland, however, can also be traced to the Latin Jugum, yoke, and hence hill.
Col de Joux also hosts the final Ayas section of Ru Courtod, an irrigated canal coming from the Ventina glacier and dating back to the 14th century.
Several trails of varying difficulty start here, for example those leading to Testa Comagna or Col Tzecore, but you can also go for a pleasant walk along the private road towards Sommarèse, or towards Pallu, with its artificial lake.

What is an “aula verde” (green classroom)?
It’s an open space, measuring a few hundred square metres, that hosts a wetland area (the habitat with the highest levels of biodiversity), either an existing one or one specially created.
The area, complete with panels that identify and provide explanations about the plant and animal life, is open to young students, offering them the chance to learn to take care of a natural, vulnerable microcosm present in their own local area, through interactive environmental education lessons aimed at teaching them about the plants and animals characteristic of marshy areas.
Here, children can discover “magical” plants and animals capable of surprising changes and transformations (such as the shift from water to land), or which turn the food chain on its head (with carnivorous plants that eat animals). This provides them with new stimuli and the chance to discover rare, mysterious living creatures.

Coin Nature

Filey di Antey-Saint-André was identified as the ideal location for a wetland area to be used by schools for study and research purposes.
A small watercourse, the Fontana Grossa brook, runs through the area, the natural and morphological elements of which remain practically intact. While setting up the space, aquatic plants, such as the thread-leaved water crowfoot, shining pondweed and yarrow were transplanted, later adding bushes and other plants suitable to renaturalise the large “cliff” that is a distinctive feature of a part of the Aula Verde area.
In 2004, the visitor route was completed with the installation of explanatory and photographic panels, and the “Coin Nature” was finally ready to welcome the users it was mainly intended for: children
Coin Nature allows visitors to observe the water spider that scientists call Gerris Lacustris, a small insect that runs on the water thanks to the microscopic waterproof hairs that cover its legs and stomach. They can also follow the evolution of tadpoles, baby frogs, who live initially underwater, breathing through gills like fish and, after metamorphosis, breath with the lungs their gills have turned into.
With plenty of patience and a little luck, you may also see rarer and shyer animals like the salamander or water snake.
Enjoy your visit!

The lake of Lod is a basin of glacial origin which gave its name to the small hamlet located nearby, reachable by car from Antey-Saint-André.

It is the natural home of several lake botanical species including the marsh reed abundantly present around its banks.

It can also be reached on foot from the hamlet Bourg (less than 400 metres of altitude gap) and from the village of Hérin along an easy path.

The lake is located along stage 8 of the Cammino Balteo trail which goes from Verrayes to La Magdeleine.

Lo Ditor: from the calcium springs to the prairies to the alpine forests.

A flooded plain crossed by numerous brooks and the Petit Monde stream - surrounded by wooded peaks, to the North, by a sheer rock wall - this is the Lo Ditor pond, located in the Chavacour valley in the municipality of Torgon at an altitude of about 1,900 meters above seal level.

It was included in the Natura 2000 network due to some extremely interesting habitats, mainly the calcium springs called “Cratoneurion”.

Lo Ditor also includes wet peat bog habitats (of alkaline transition) and others not directly tied to water such as the larch wood, the subalpine prairies and rocky environments.

The landscape is defined by amphitheatre forms, modelled by the ancient glacier that descended from the peaks of Punta Tzan and by the pastoral customs that defined the orderly alternation of prairies and woods.

It takes about one hour to reach the pond.
The site tour path, crossing 2,700 meters with a 160 gradient, is well marked and leads to the peak to provide a spectacular view of the “Lo Ditor” plain thanks to the panorama overlooking the pond. The path continues across the pastures in the valley above.

Completing the entire circuit takes forty five minutes: you should set aside double that time to read the illustrative panels and enjoy the sites’ beauty.

There is also a shorter circuit, walking around the southern edge of the pond, that provides a thorough view of its main aspects.

July and August, at peak bloom, are the best months to visit the park but fall, with its vibrant colours, is ideal if you want to discover the SIC (Site of Community Importance) and its surroundings.

The pass connects Chambave, Verrayes and Saint-Denis to the lower Valtournenche valley with an asphalt road that goes through very beautiful and quiet areas with breathtaking landscapes: the view of the Matterhorn from the top of the pass is exceptional.
It is a route, far from the most popular tourist circuits, loved by cyclists and motorcyclists for its curves and its slopes.

A concentration of natural processes in a very rich habitat

An old pond rapidly drying out located on a glacier terrace in the heart of a sunny and dry climate zone.

The lake is home to a rich zooplankton population, numerous invertebrates including different species of dragonflies and amphibians such as the common toad and the brown frog. In the reserve there are more than fifteen different plant associations and almost seventy species typical of wetlands and aquatic environments, some rare or unique to the Valle d’Aosta.

The nature reserve is one of the European ecological network Natura 2000 Special Area of Conservation (SAC).

How to get there
From Aosta, take the national road 26 towards Turin. In Chambave, follow the signs for Verrayes and Loson.

This arboretum, the oldest of this kind in the Region, was realized between 1905 and 1908 by Canon Vescoz, an eminent religious, scientist and geologist native of Verrayes, in a poor and dry ridge, called Pointys (1050 m) and purchased by him with huge economic sacrifices.
This was the first forestation experiment carried out in Aosta Valley with exotic species, on an area of over 12 hectares.
More than 11.000 non-indigenous plants were put in, including 3 varieties of cedar, 2 varieties of douglas, 2 varieties of Italian cypress, the Monterey cypress, the thuja, the giant sequoia, the black pine in addition to native species, some of which are completely out of the station, including the beech, the French oak, the mountain pine, etc. ...
The visitor can admire a wooded area of great naturalistic, botanical and scientific interest, given by the uniqueness and the particularity of the site. The massive presence of aromatic thyme is to mention.
The site is open since 1995 and the most suitable season to visit the Arboretum is spring, characterized by an exaltation of colors and scents.
Three explanatory boards integrated with the mapping of arboretum show tourists the vegetation, the various trails (each appropriately marked) and the most panoramic areas.