A woodland glade at the gate of Pollino

San Giorgio Lucano itself crowns a hill at around 416 metres, looking down over the valley of the Sarmento, a tributary of the Sinni, in the southernmost corner of Basilicata where the provinces of Matera, Potenza and Cosenza meet. The village sits inside the Pollino National Park, Italy’s largest, and the Valle delle Scale wood lies just below it, on the valley side — a patch of tall-trunk forest that feels like a natural antechamber to the mountains behind.↗↗↗

On Google Maps the spot is logged as a “punto panoramico,” and the green, grassy clearing in its photographs bears that out: it is a place valued for the feel of the woods and the open views across the valley rather than for a single monument. The name “Valley of the Steps” hints at the terraced, sloping ground the footpaths step down through.↗

The equipped park and the chalet

The woodland is managed by the municipality as a “parco attrezzato,” an equipped outdoor area built for families and groups. Some twelve hectares of high forest are fenced and crossed by pedestrian paths and lanes, partly lit at night. Scattered through the glade are built barbecue stations, long timber picnic tables and benches, a pair of bocce courts and a small dance floor, with car parks at the edge so you can arrive by car and spend the whole day under the canopy.↗

At the centre of it all stands the chalet, an annexe that has served as a bar-restaurant — a welcome sight when you would rather order a drink or a plate than light your own grill. A short “percorso natura,” an outdoor fitness and walking circuit, runs through the site, giving the place a gentle reason to stretch your legs as well as sit and eat.↗↗

Festivals and lazy summer days

In summer the quiet wood has played host to a louder kind of gathering. The Sarmento in Fermento eco-festival, set up by local young people to celebrate the landscape, music and the environment, was staged in this very bosco at the foot of Pollino: two or three days of reggae and sound-system sessions, a free-climbing area, aerial dance, art shown out in nature, visits to the local caves, talks on environmental causes and free camping between the trees.↗↗

The festival has been an August fixture in past years, so it is worth checking ahead whether an edition is planned when you visit; even when there is no stage up, the same clearing lends itself to hammocks, picnics and an evening grill in the cool of the wood.↗↗

Around the valley

The climb up to the borgo of San Giorgio Lucano is a natural follow-on. Its historic centre is a tangle of lanes lined with stone portals and old noble houses such as Palazzo Zito and Palazzo Carlomagno, centred on the 17th-century Mother Church of San Francesco d’Assisi, and ringed by the Santuario della Madonna del Pantano and the little chapel of the Madonna delle Grazie.↗↗

One of the area’s most singular sights is its caves: roughly 1,200 surveyed hollows and grotte riddle the hillsides in contrade like Timpa and Crocicella, many with handsome timber doorways and wrought iron, relics of a vanishing peasant way of life. Beyond the village, the clay badlands of the calanchi erode into moon-like folds toward the plateau of Falconeto, a favourite for sunset photography, while the broad artificial lake of Monte Cotugno — one of the largest earth-fill dams in Europe — lies a short drive away, drawing rowers, paddlers, anglers and birdwatchers to its observatory.↗↗↗

For bigger mountain air, the park grounds offer trekking and mountain biking among beech woods and loricato pines, and the communal woodland spot of “La Catusa” is a known base for nature walks, camping and scouting in the high Pollino.↗↗

Getting there and when to go

This corner of Basilicata is reached by car: from the A2 motorway take the Lauria Nord exit, or come up the Sinnica valley on the SS653; Matera is about 90 km inland and the Ionian coast roughly 40 km off. The park lies just outside the village, on an unnamed valley-side lane, so a car is the practical way in, and the on-site parking makes a day trip easy.↗↗↗

Summer is when the shade and the barbecue areas earn their keep, and when any festival would fill the clearing, though daytime heat makes early arrival wise. Spring (April to June) and autumn (September to October) bring mild temperatures ideal for pairing the wood with hikes into the calanchi and the Pollino trails, while winter leaves the place hushed and nearly empty — good for quiet, but check that the chalet and facilities are open before counting on them.↗

Good to know before you go

This is a relaxed, self-catering style park rather than a ticketed attraction. The barbecue niches mean the place gets smoky and lively on warm weekends; bring your own food and charcoal unless you want to rely on the chalet, and pack out rubbish to keep the wood clean. Because facilities such as the restaurant and the lit paths depend on municipal upkeep and the season, opening can vary — there is no published hours list for the site, so a call to the town office or a quick check before travelling the mountain roads is sensible. The gravel and stepped lanes through the forest are uneven, so wear proper shoes rather than flip-flops if you plan to walk.↗↗