Maiella National Park (Italian: Parco Nazionale della Maiella) is situated in the provinces of Chieti, Pescara, and L'Aquila in the region of Abruzzo, Italy. It is found in the area of the Maiella massif, with Monte Amaro being the highest point at 2,793 meters (9,163 feet) above sea level.

It is one of Italy's 24 national parks and one of three national parks in Abruzzo. The park was created in 1991.

The park covers an area of 740.95 square kilometers (286.08 square miles), with the Montagna della Majella being a key location. From 1998 to 2005, scientists from around the world studied the area as part of a research project called TaskForceMajella. For thousands of years, oil and gas have naturally leaked from the northern slope of the mountain through shallow wells. On April 21, 2021, Maiella National Park was named a UNESCO Global Geopark and is now called Majella Geopark.

Main sights

The park has about 500 kilometers of hiking trails through the mountains. There are cave paintings in Grotta Sant'Angelo and Grotta del Cavallone. Grotta del Cavallone is one of the deepest caves in Europe that is open to the public.

Tourist centers located in the park include:

• Maurizio Locati Visitor Center, Colle Madonna, Lama dei Peligni – sections about chamois, archeology, a reconstruction of a Neolithic village, and the Giardino Botanico Michele Tenore.
• Museo Naturalistico at Fara San Martino.
• Paolo Barrasso Visitor Center at Caramanico Terme. It has geology sections including fossils discovered on the Majella Mountain, and archeologic findings from the Upper Paleolithic to the Roman age.
• Giardino Botanico Daniela Brescia at Sant'Eufemia a Maiella –

Wildlife

Because of its high elevation, difficult access, and size, most areas of the park are not inhabited by people. This means there are fewer human-made structures, such as ski resorts and roads, compared to other national parks in Italy. These conditions have helped protect the wildlife of the Apennine Mountains, which is shown in the park in many ways. The most well-known animal in the Majella area is the Italian wolf. It appears on the park's logo, and about 100 wolves live in the area, divided into 11 groups across the main mountain ranges. Scientists track 17 of these wolves using GPS collars. Experts think the number of wolves per area in the Majella National Park is among the highest in Italy and the world, even when compared to Yellowstone National Park.

Other important animals in the park include:

• The Abruzzo chamois (Rupicapra pyrenaica ornata), which lives on high slopes. This species was brought back to the area in 1991 after being absent for many years through a program led by the Abruzzo National Park.
• The Marsican brown bear (Ursus arctos marsicanus), which lives in the park's beech forests and nearby areas. About 20 of these bears live in the region, making it one of the largest groups of bears in a protected area in Central Italy.
• The golden eagle, with six pairs that breed in the park.
• The red deer and roe deer, which were reintroduced to the park after World War II when they had disappeared from the Central Apennines.

Amphibians and reptiles in the park include the spectacled salamander, the yellow-billed toad, and the Orsini's viper, which is found only in this region.

Birds that breed in the park include the goshawk, buzzard, rock partridge, alpine and red-billed chough, peregrine falcon, and sparrow hawk.

Other mammals that live in the forests around the Majella massif are the wild boar, Corsican hare, European pine marten, European wildcat, red fox, European badger, and the rare European otter.