Bivacco Cesacotta
Cesacotta bivouac
The place
A small free bivouac set at 1368 m on a long karst plateau at the heart of the Monti Simbruini Regional Nature Park, reachable on snowshoes from Camporotondo. Camporotondo, a tourist hamlet of the municipality of Cappadocia (province of L'Aquila, Abruzzo), sits at 1400 m on the northern foothills of the Monti Carseolani-Simbruini — an area of snow-covered beech forest and isolated karst plains, dotted with modest Carseolano-Simbruini peaks. The Bivacco di Cesa Cotta serves as a stop on winter snowshoe loops towards the Rifugio SAIFAR (Vallepietra, province of Rome) in the buffer zone between Abruzzo and Lazio. An exceptional setting among some of Europe's best-preserved beech forests (part of the UNESCO listing of the 'Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests' including the Simbruini sector), home to wolves and the rarely-seen Marsican brown bear in this border area.
Getting there
From Camporotondo (Cappadocia, AQ, 1400 m). Winter snowshoe loop towards Rifugio SAIFAR (Vallepietra, RM).
The setting
Karst plateau of the Monti Carseolani-Simbruini, UNESCO beech forests, Abruzzo/Lazio border.
