This densely-wooded corner of the promontory at 800 m is reached by forbiddingly steep minor roads from the coast. Tall and slender, tightly packed, the trees form wavering green curtains which draw apart as you enter. The variegated foliage, unique and classed as ‘Garganic’ by botanists, includes holm oak, white poplar, cornelian cherry, Aleppo pine, maple and birch. You might approach by way of Vico, a small hillside town of red-pan-tiled white houses with the remains of Emperor Frederick’s 13thC fortress, a single tower built into a modern house. Still climbing, this road arrives at the Foresta Umbra visitor centre, the State Forestry Agency, a roe deer sanctuary and a few small natural and artificial ponds with rudimentary water-sports facilities.