Enza River

Accessibility
Vetto administrative capital
Distance from Reggio Emilia: km 39 You get to Vetto taking the SP 28 up to Cavriago to then continue on the SP 22 up to S. Polo d'Enza; from here you take the SS 513 for Vetto.
Distance from Modena: km 68
Follow the SS 9 (via Emilia) up to Reggio Emilia and then take the SP 28 up to Cavriago to then continue on the SP 22 up to S. Polo d'Enza, from here take the SS 513 for Vetto
Distance from Parma: km 45
Vetto can be reached taking the SS 513

Tourist Area
Parco Nazionale dell'Appennino Tosco-emiliano and Matildic Zone

Geographic Area
Apennines

Additional information
Following the SP 57 from Vetto towards Ramiseto, on the stretch that goes from Gottano and Gazzolo you take a deviation on the right of the junction and you reach the village of Temporia; a village which at one time was very well known for being the seat of an important market, as is also indicated by its name in Greek. At Temporia, an unpaved but accessible road, leads to the gravelly shore of the Enza river. In this area you can admire the environment created by the mountain torrent, the rich vegetation near the water offers a hospitable shelter for terrestrial and water fauna. Temporia, a destination off the beaten track, gives you the chance to get away from the chaos of everyday and at the same time allows you to enjoy an admirable naturalistic scenery.

Description
The medium and higher altitude Enza Valley is one of the prettiest valleys of the entire Emilian Apennines. The landscape combines its attractions with its conspicuous monumental wealth, tied, for the most part, to the memory of Matilde di Canossa. The ancient hamlets are quite rich in terms of traditional stone dwellings. After the charming clay calanques of Canossa, the environment becomes greener with Sylvester pinewoods in the Tassobbio valley (under Crovara and Legoreccio). The upper and medium altitude flow of the Enza torrent crosses thick rocky layers made for the most part of sandstone and Marne. In certain areas the fluvial riverbed is deeply imbedded between steep jutting walls, while, in other places it spreads out occupying a large surface. In this location the torrent is easily accessible and can be visited. The flow of the water enters a fairly large riverbed branching off into different secondary branches and forming interesting canals with a few centimeters of water, which are prefect for observation. During the summer months this stretch dries up. It is not unusual to come across examples of nice ornamental stones known as "paesina" whose stratifications recall images of a fairy-tale landscape. You can also pinpoint a few types of fossils, usually enclosed in a variety of stone of a yellowish color with traces of stratifications. These fossils, known as "fucoids", look like algae or thickly branched weeds; they aren't plants but traces of Limivore marine organisms. Thick woods formed almost exclusively of willows cover the banks of the torrents. In late spring you can easily find the yellow flower of the Verbasco, along with the capitulum of the plain thistle. In the waters there are also long, languid, green algae, while the swallow water holes and the secondary branches in the spring host abundant fauna: thousand of Avvanotti of about a few millimeters and the characteristic long gelatinous ribbons formed from the eggs of some amphibians.