Foresta Umbra at the start of the Laghetto d'Umbra

Laghetto d’Umbra is situated in the centre of the Foresta Umbra, a stone’s throw from the junction between the road linking Monte Sant’Angelo to Vico del Gargano and the road coming from Peschici via Mandrione. It can be reached from Baracconi’s tavern, which lies on the edge of the second road mentioned above.
Leave your car along the track leading to the taverna.

(S/E) Cross the road to reach the small lake (Laghetto), whose glistening surface can be seen below. Walk down to the water’s edge to really enjoy the site, and go round the lake to the right, following the shore. Take the opportunity to count the inhabitants you come across (fish, turtles, birds…), but keep your distance so as not to startle them.
When you reach the lake’s dam, a footbridge leads to the footpath, situated slightly above the shore, along which you continue your walk.

(1) Once you’ve walked round the lake, turn right to enter the forest proper and immerse yourself completely in its atmosphere. The giant trees lining the path are truly impressive. Follow the wire fence until the first fork.

(2) Turn right towards Falascone.

(3) About a hundred metres before reaching the roadside rest area, turn left to leave the developed area. The well-marked path winds its way between moss-covered rock outcrops and sinkholes, through a stand of majestic beech trees. Continue along the track to the next crossroads.

(4) Pass a path on your left which joins the path where the route ends. Continue to the right, towards Baccone.
After 500 m along a virtually straight stretch, you’ll reach an unmarked crossroads.

(5) Take the path that heads left, skirting a huge sinkhole. This path is less marked than the previous one, but there is no risk of getting lost. After about a kilometre winding through the forest, you will come out onto a concrete forest track.

(6) Turn left and follow the forest track to the next four-way junction.

(7) Turn right to cross a slightly damp patch, and follow the track uphill to Caserna Murgia. This strange building, resembling a seaside villa, is situated at the top of a hill on the left, slightly set back from the track.

(8) Turn back, leaving the path leading to Lago d'Ortu on your left. Return to the crossroads you passed earlier.

(7) Turn right to head back towards the lake where you started. At the fork, continue to the right. You will reach the crossroads you passed on the way out.

(2) Head right, following the outward route in the opposite direction to reach the original fork.

(1) On reaching Laghetto, turn right to cross the dam. At the end of the dam, a gap in the railing allows you to descend to the water’s edge. You will then find the track that leads to (S/E).

Barranconi’s tavern (Trattoria Foresta Umbra) is a good place to stock up on provisions before setting off or to stop for a break on the way back.

In karst terrain, water seeping into the underlying limestone does more than just create voids underground. Sometimes the cavities formed collapse, opening up conical depressions of varying sizes, with flat bottoms. These are sinkholes. Nearby, one can see pyramidal piles of rocky, moss-covered boulders of varying heights. It would be tempting to think that the bumps created the hollows, so perfect is their arrangement here. But for that to be the case, it would have had to be the work of a giant. Gargano, Gargantua: is there a connection?