A sensation of entering in a lunar landscape
A peculiar landscape, an imposing mass of rocky material, with blocks of huge dimensions. The Marocche were formed by landslides, precipitated from Mount Brento and from Mount Casale ( right side of the valley) and by landslides on the left side. The causes of the landslides are connected to the phenomenal of the Quaternary glacial period. The dialectal Trentino term, marocca, comes from the palaeoeuropean mar term, that meant rock, stone.
The Marocche di Dro are a Site of Community Importance, belonging to the Natura 2000 Network. In the area there is a path with stopping places where you can admire the geomorphologic and natural particularity of this natural sanctuary.
Dinosaur Footprints at the Marocche
It involves footprints left behind 190 million years ago from different dinosaurs on some scattered rocks on the "Frana di Kas" area, the eastern-most part of the Marocche Nature reserve. At least one footprint is from a big herbivore, about 6-7 meters tall, while the other is from a carnivore. The footprints, discovered in 2000, aren’t very noticeable because the calcified rock, which makes-up a large part of Dro’s great glacial landslide, degenerates a centimeter every 1000 years due to Karst disintegration. A guided trail along the beautiful geological Nature reserve, kept by the Tridentine Museum of Natural Sciences, takes you to the dinosaur’s footprints.
