Walking in Abruzzo. Stuart Haines
Walk 14 The west summit of Corno Grande
Walk 15 The east summit of Corno Grande
Walk 16 Campo Pericoli and Pizzo Cefalone
Walk 17 Monte Bolza ridge
Walk 18 Pietracamela and Prati di Tivo
Walk 19 Monte Corvo and the Val Chiarino
Walk 20 Monte di Mezzo circuit from Campotosto
Walk 21 Cima della Laghetta and Monte Gorzano
Walk 22 Villetta Barrea and Civitella Alfedena
Walk 23 The Val di Rose
Walk 24 Monte La Meta and the Mainarde crest
Walk 25 La Terratta
Walk 26 The Scanno town and lake loop
Walk 27 Serra del Campitello and Monte Godi
Walk 28 Monte Marsicano
Walk 29 Colli Alti and Bassi from Pescasseroli
SULMONA VALLEY AND MONTE GENZANA
Walk 30 Anversa degli Abruzzi and Castrovalva
Walk 31 Monte Mattone from Pettorano sul Gizio
Walk 32 Monte Genzana from Pettorano sul Gizio
Walk 33 A tour of the Valle del Gizio
THE SIRENTE-VELINO REGIONAL PARK
Walk 34 Monte Sirente
Walk 35 The Celano gorge via Fonte degli Innamorati
Walk 36 Monte Velino
Walk 37 Monte Ocre
Walk 38 Fontecchio and Pagliare di Tione
Walk 39 The Navelli plain
Walk 40 Monte Viglio
Appendix A Route summary table
Appendix B Further access information
Appendix C Italian–English glossary
Appendix D Useful contacts
Monte Prena from Vado di Feruccio (Walk 12)
Entering the open valley behind Monte Ocre (Walk 37)
Corno Grande group from Monte di Mezzo (Walks 20)
INTRODUCTION
Campo Imperatore from Sella di Monte Aquila (Walks 14 and 16)
It’s 7.30pm. You are standing on the tower of the isolated medieval castle, Rocca Calascio, set dramatically at 1500m on a narrow ridge in the heart of Abruzzo. Fading light is softening the seemingly endless ridges, peaks and valleys that lie in every direction; the silence is underlined by occasional barking from a hamlet below.
One other building stands nearby. The beautiful octagonal church of Madonna della Pietà is isolated against the dramatic south east face of Corno Grande, the apex of the Apennines, 16km to the north and 1500m higher still.
It’s early June. The day has been hot and sunny, although the hours on the trail were eased by a gentle breeze rising from the Adriatic. The air is still warm but it’s time for a light sweater.
This is the centre of the Gran Sasso National Park. The peak and west flank of Corno Grande blaze in the sinking sun while the steep, stark east wall has fallen into shadow. You think about yesterday, when you stood on that summit and fed sweetcorn kernels to the choughs. You felt that you could see from one side of Italy to the other, while all the mountains of Abruzzo were ranged around.
Now, slanting rays light up the ancient village of Carapelle Calvisio, lying on a lower ridge to the south. The forest has darkened, providing a fine background to the glowing tones of the beautiful old buildings.
The peace is extraordinary and the view immense. It is easy to understand why 10th-century barons chose this place to raise their fortress – the highest and surely the most picturesque in Italy.
Corno Piccolo from the west ridge of Corno Grande (Walk 14)
The soft clatter of an old tractor draws your gaze to the valley floor. It is moving slowly down a white lane through strips of lentil and potato fields, along the route of the famous Sentiero Italia – a footpath that runs from the Dolomites to the tip of Sicily. Not that you can imagine undertaking such a walk when there is so much to be explored in just the landscape you can see!
Imperceptibly, the far ridges turn to abstract layers of green, blue and purple, capped by the reddening sky. The peaks of the Maiella and the Abruzzo national parks, way south, grow a little larger as they become silhouettes on the horizon. Wispy cloud has gathered on the shoulders of Monte Amaro, the crown of the Maiella massif and, at 2800m, the region’s second highest point. You look away and then back – it has gone as quickly as it formed.
The Peligna basin, separating the three national parks, lies below the steep west slopes of the Maiella. It’s too dark now to make out Sulmona, the main town of central Abruzzo, but tomorrow you will walk towards it. In two days’ time you will arrive there, tired and a little regretful, to spend your last night before catching the train back to Rome.
A church bell tolls in Castel del Monte, a few kilometres to the north east. It’s one of the highest villages in the Apennines and gateway to the magnificent mountain plain of Campo Imperatore, which you spent most of the day crossing. It has been a memorable day, with the countryside carpeted in wildflowers and populated by semi-wild horses, flocks of sheep and creamy coated, ever-watchful Abruzzo sheep dogs. The four shepherds you greeted were the only people you met – more like a little corner of Tibet than Italy. It seemed a barren, wild place from the heights of Corno Grande, but as you wandered across the undulating pasture the early summer flora, recently emerged from beneath spring snow, was a rich surprise.
Thoughts of food and cold beer intrude on your reverie. Settling your pack for the last time, you watch the tower