Established in 1999 and entrusted to Italia Nostra, the reserve protects a spectacular stretch of the “Salso” River, which flows between the gypsum-sulphur cliffs ranging from 795 m at Capodarso to 706 m at Sabucina. It is a true corridor for herons, white storks, and black-winged stilts, while among the scrub roam the wildcat, the porcupine, and the Sicilian pond turtle. Along the river grow brackish reedbeds and meadows of whitish plantain, as well as arid grasslands dotted with the endemic Tineo’s cabbage and the silvery tufts of spazzaforno swaying in the sirocco wind; on the slopes, the ampelodesmos steppe gives way to white crests where, in spring, rock orchids bloom.
The reserve is part of the European Geopark “Rocca di Cerere” and shelters three mines (Trabonella, Giumentaro, Giumentarello) that recount the sulphur epic of Caltanissetta, today stops of industrial trekking among rusted headframes, Gill furnaces, and celestine crystals glittering among slag heaps. The landscape’s centerpiece is the Capodarso Bridge, a bold stone arch commissioned by Charles V in 1553 to withstand the floods of the river: described in the 18th century as “one of the wonders of Sicily,” it still connects the provinces of Enna and Caltanissetta and, at sunset, offers a breathtaking view over the canyon below.
From the car parks along the SS122, a marked trail leads down to the riverbanks, skirting the “Cave of Wonders” with alabastrine concretions and then climbing among broom shrubs to the remains of the ancient rock stairway that once led to the Hellenized indigenous acropolis. Those who venture further reach the maccalube of Terrapelata, mud volcanoes that bubble on the hottest days, a living testimony to the evaporitic instability of the area. Visiting Monte Capodarso thus means walking through a single page of geology, archaeology, and mining memory, where the gentle flow of the Salso reflects the colors of gypsum and ties together in one gaze harsh nature, ancient bridges, forgotten mines, and the slow breath of migratory birds following the river to the sea.