San Venanzo – Castelvecchio – Vulcani

For this route you need to download the map on your mobile or GPS.

It has two short stretches where maximum attention is needed to identify the right direction, but if we have the map downloaded in our device, we will have no problems.

We will find some gates along the way: we must always close them after passing them.

We start from Via Gorizia, in San Venanzo (we are stepping on one of the two streets that, in ancient times, were going northwards from San Venanzo; although very steep this street was very used and frequented) and, after a few hundred meters we will find a farmhouse on the right; just after the house, on the opposite side of the road, we find a downhill dirt road (often we need to pass a low fence for animals). This road will lead us to reach the Fosso della Fuga, which we will always follow going along the only track present (be careful always to close the gates for the animals). Now we are on an ascent and, shortly, we will exit the woods and proceed straight ahead in front of us on the cultivated field until we reach a dirt road, which we will take to the right (north-east) and, a few meters later, we will find the ruin of Podere Cervella in front of us. As soon as we pass this building, we will go downhill to the left (North).

After walking 1.7 km from the beginning, we will find a crossroads where the most obvious road is not the one on the right, which is located slightly lower and enters, like the other one, in the woods but going downhill. Thus we will reach Fosso La Guardia that we will wade and, in short, the ascent will end. On our left (East) stands Poggio Castelvecchio, where the remains of the ancient settlement of the same name still exist. In front of us we continue downhill for about twenty meters and then we take a road on the left (West) that runs alongside another ditch (Fosso di Vecciute) that we will reach. Now we have to go through it; on the other side, the road is not evident but we just have to go up towards the east, leaving the ditch just crossed on the left to reach, after about 100/150 meters, a nice dirt road.

Here we go to the left (South), we wade the Fosso di Vecciute again and, always uphill, we will reach the ridge. On the left, well hidden by the vegetation, there is Castelvecchio (just go uphill for about twenty meters to find the first ruined walls).

After a dutiful visit to the ruins of Castelvecchio, we take the dirt road that climbs the ridge, towards the west; always following this evident track, we reach Podere Campogrande; we pass its e buildings and we will continue our road (immediately after the farm we find a crossroads and we turn right. A few hundred meters later, another crossroads. Here we continue to the left downhill (towards East). Always following the main street, we pass Olivastrella, and we reach the State road, which we follow eastwards.

After traveling 11.3 km from the start, we find a road on our right, always an asphalt road but less important, which continues eastwards. After about 200 meters, we turn left uphill for the only asphalt road that joins ours; we pass a building with a workshop and a house and we always follow our track which, shortly and downhill, will take us to the Volcanological Park area from which we will reach San Venanzo again.