Visitor Center of the State Forestry Corps, Monte Sant’Angelo

The actual Umbra Forest (5,500 hectares) is  the heart of the Gargano state forest complexes (10,330 hectares),  a botanical jewel of Gargano and the entire Apulian region. The entire complex constitutes a truly exemplary case of conservation, management, and facilities for the tourist use of a natural asset. In the Umbra Forest, the tree cover is  mainly made up of broadleaf trees, among which oaks dominate, but also Aleppo pines and beech trees. In the Dispensa area, on the right side of the road leading from the Umbra Forest towards the coast along the Valle del Tesoro, you can admire the “giant of the forest” (marked), a beech about 40 m tall with a circumference of over 5 m at its base. The fauna includes roe deer, an indigenous population characterized by small size,  as well as wild cats, martens, badgers, dormice, sable, foxes, squirrels, and numerous bird species, including the rare white-backed woodpecker and birds of prey such as the eagle owl, goshawk, buzzard, and sparrowhawk. Preferred spots for observation are the cutini, small karst depressions where rainwater collects, which represent the only natural watering sources for the fauna. A short distance from the trail (about 800 m) is the Umbra Forest Visitor Center, where it is possible to admire a 1:25,000 scale model of the Gargano promontory, lithic artifacts proving ancient human presence in Gargano, a xylotheque, large photographs of faunal and floral highlights, and a rich collection of taxidermy specimens. Attached to the Center is an outdoor area where a typical charcoal burners’ station has been reconstructed.