The Somadida Nature Reserve is in Palus San Marco, just a few kms from Auronzo town. It is a state nature park enclosing a total surface area of 1676 hectares, ranging from a flatter valley area to the Dolomite and limestone peaks of the Marmarole and Sorapiss massifs. In 1463 the Magnifica Comunità Cadorina local institution gave this forest to the Venetian Serenissima Republic for use in satisfying its huge need for valuable timber suitable for ship masts. From 1866, when the Veneto region was incorporated into the Italian Kingdom, Somadida forest became state property and the nature reserve was officially set up in 1972. Marked trails, some of which are accessible to the elderly and families, too, take visitors through tall Norway spruces, silver fir and majestic beech trees. There is also a small nature museum with a permanent display on its animals, a forest library and a butterfly garden. The area is currently managed by the Comando Unità Tutela Foresta Ambientale forest patrol.
