Alcamo forest
The reserve extends over the summit of Mount Bonifato, 825 m a.s.l., of calcareous origin, overlooking the city of Alcamo.
In the area there are many amusements as adventure park and a picnic area. Furthermore one can enjoy a great view of the coastline.
Throughout the XIX century, in the same place you could enjoy a deciduous forest that unfortunately was lost.
Since the beginning of the XX century, it has been preceded by a reorganization for successive phases, which lasted for about 60 years, which generated the wood we know today, consisting of pines, cypresses, holm oaks and ash trees.
A dense undergrowth presents specimens of peony, acanthus, ferula, ampelodesma, ranucolo, valerian, asphodel, gorse, lentisk, palm, butcher's broom, broom, euphorbia.
As for the fauna, it is important the presence of rabbits, foxes, porcupines, hedgehogs, weasels ... in turn, food for buzzards, kestrels, barn owls, owls, owls.
Inhabited since the Bronze Age, today it preserves some traces of a castle of probable Arab origin (10th century), then restored by the Ventimiglia in the XIV century.
Of the four towers that mark its perimeter, the north-west tower is almost complete. Always on the same side of the mountain, you can recognize the jambs of what once was the entrance to the city, the so-called "Door of the Queen".
Within the reserve, you can choose between 3 different routes:
- The path of San Nicola, south side, 1.8 km long
- The path of the orchids, west side, 850 m long. So called because many species of orchids meet on the way
- East view, 2.4 km long, which reaches the top of the mountain