Camping opportunities along the Alta Via dei Parchi

Bivouacking in protected areas along the Alta Via dei Parchi was permitted, as an exception, during the Covid emergency based on a presidential ordinance, which is no longer in force.
Currently, in Emilia-Romagna, Regional Law 16/2004 “Regulations for accommodation facilities” is in effect. Through Article 15-bis “temporary rest areas” (added in December 2022 by Regional Law 23/2022), it allows the establishment of temporary rest areas for tents serving hiking and cycling routes.

In particular:

To allow hiking and cycling tourists to make temporary stops using their own tents, the municipalities crossed by the Routes listed in the Atlante dei Cammini or included in the Regional Network of Pilgrimage Routes, as well as municipalities crossed by the routes included in the map of the Regional Hiking Network or by the Regional Cycle Routes in Annex (map E) of the Integrated Regional Transport Plan 2025, may designate—
in areas with limited accommodation options and outside protected areas, or
in protected areas and Natura 2000 sites, provided these are compatible with higher-level constraints and subject to authorization by the entities responsible for protection—
zones where temporary rest areas for tents serving hiking or cycling routes may be established, in accordance with their urban planning instruments.

For more details on the various possibilities for overnight stays in tents—whether in campsites, at authorized accommodation facilities, or in temporary rest areas—we recommend contacting the competent authorities (managing bodies of national, interregional, and regional protected areas, and municipalities), since each authority has different availability and its own regulations.

• Link to Park Authorities