The Ridracoli Dam – Bagno di Romagna

In the heart of the National Park of the Casentino Forests, Mount Falterona and Campigna, immersed in lush vegetation that marks the passing of the seasons, dyed with evocative and intense colours, lies the Ridracoli Dam. An artificial reservoir, built between the late 1970s and early 1980s, it can hold no less than 33 million litres of water (purified by the Capaccio Potability Centre and distributed through the Romagna aqueduct to almost 50 municipalities). Lush woods populated by hundreds of animal and plant species cover almost the entire territory so much that you can walk through it without ever leaving the lush, green mantle that envelops it.

Situated 557 m above sea level, with a retaining wall 432 m long and 103.5 m high, the dam was built in perfect harmony with the surrounding environment, collecting the waters of the Bidente and Rio Celluzze rivers; today the lake looks very similar to a fjord in northern Europe: narrow and long, it slides into the woods for about 5 km.

A visit to the Ridracoli Dam offers many opportunities for those who want to spend a peaceful day, enjoying a suggestive and luxuriant panorama: among the services offered there are trekking routes, outdoor picnics, excursions by electric boat, canoeing, mountain-biking and e-biking, guided tours in the tunnels of the dam; the moment of the overflowing is always spectacular, when the waterfall comes to life thanks to rain and melting snow.

The area around the dam is criss-crossed by numerous nature trails, one of the most popular being the one that leads to the Ca’ di Sopra refuge, a not very difficult route of about 5 km (round trip) that offers breathtaking views of the lake, the dam, but also of the local fauna. During excursions around the lake, in fact, it is easy to observe the animals that populate the upper Bidente valley: ungulates (wild boar, deer, roe deer, fallow deer), porcupines, both diurnal and nocturnal birds of prey (eagles, hawks, goshawks and eagle owls), and even amphibians (newts, salamanders, the yellow-bellied toad). Also worth mentioning is the presence of animals that only recently inhabit the area, attracted by the fishiness of the basin, such as the gray heron and the cormorant. In the area around Ridracoli, thanks to the intervention of Romagna Acque, a number of farmhouses frequented by tourists have been completely renovated, while “IDRO – Ecomuseo delle acque”, in the village of Ridracoli, is an interesting scientific museum, arranged on four floors, exploring the secrets of water and the forest, making the visit more interesting for adults and children.