The Verrino falls

The Verrino is a torrential river system which means that it shows significant variations throughout the year; it rises in the territory of Capracotta, in the locality of Ara Petrecca, at an altitude of 1250m a.s.l., and after passing through various municipalities, among them Agnone, flows into the Trigno River, at an altitude of 450m a.s.l.
This is an area that is subject to special protection( Nature 2000) of the Ministry of the Environment, in accordance with European Directive code number IT7222127F. The basin extends in total over 700 hectares; its length is 24 kilometers.
The first part is the most interesting one from the scenic point of view, because the water flows along some very impervious sections, making little leaps over imposing cliffs and creating some particularly stunning waterfalls. After the bridge of Agnone, the river loses its torrential character; the riverbed shows a width that varies from 7 to 100 meters. By this point the banks have been channelled and the route has been altered by human intervention.
VEGETATION
As for the vegetation, the most significant species that you will encounter along the river are: the black alder (Alnus glutinosa), typical of the riparian (river bank) zone, and hydrophyte plants which require the constant presence of humidity. This type of plant is almost never found above an altitude of 1200m a.s.l.; it has leaves of the sub-round petiolate type, with a toothed edge and a short stem. This is a monoecious plant, one that carries the male and female flowers on the same specimen, gathered in little inflorescences called catkins. It plays an important part in preventing hydrological instability, making the banks more stable. Together with the black alder we find several species of willow: the white willow (Salix alba), the common willow (Salix caprea), the willow used for making baskets (Salix viminalis); also belonging to the willow family is the poplar (Populus tremulus).
It is also easy to find the black hornbeam (Ostrya carpynifolia), the oak (Quercus cerris), the downy oak (Quercus pubescens), not to mention the laburnum (Laburnum anagryoides), the broom (Spartium junceum), the robinia (Robinia pseudoacacia), the rural maple (Acer campestris), the flowering ash (Fraxinus ornus), different varieties of ferns (famiglia delle Polypodiaceae), and the marsh reed (Phragmites communis).
FISH
In the river are found salmonids (brown trout) and barbs (common barbs).

Characteristic places to visit along the stream
Its torrential nature has been exploited, especially in the past, to operate dozens of important water mills and copperworks; more recently this has included a hydroelectric plant. The only example of a surviving water mill is the Mulino Scatozza , which you will find along the riverbank at the level of the old paved road that led to Agnone.

• Old Copper Foundries: between the end of the 1700s and the beginning of the 1800s Agnone could count many foundries and countless workshops of coppersmiths; one of the main activities was the processing of copper, whose products were then sold outside the region. Along the Verrino river you can still visit an old copper works, in which the waters of the Verrino were used to turn large mallets or millstones.
• Ancient electrical power station
• Casciano Water Mill