Italy's Sibillini National Park

Walking and Trekking Guide

By Gillian Price

ISBN

9781852845353

Availability

Published

8 Jan 2009

Reprinted

13 Jun 2013

Edition

First

Pages

192

Size

17.20 x 11.60 x 1.20cm

Weight

230g

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Walking and trekking guidebook to Italy's Sibillini National Park in the Apennines. 21 day walks and an 8-stage multi-day trek, the 120km Grande Anello dei Sibillini are explored alongside sketch maps and plenty of practical information. Easily reached from airports on the Adriatic coast and Rome, the Sibillini straddles the Marche and Umbria.

Seasons

Refuges open from mid-April to mid-October; August and midsummer weekends very busy; higher ridges may have snow until June; excellent winter walking with snowshoes or touring skis, best with a local guide

Centres

Amandola, Balzo, Castelluccio, Norcia, Nursia, Preci, Castelsantangelo, Visso, Ancona, Pescara, Perugia

Difficulty

Something for all abilities, low-level strolls, ridges and walkers' peaks; the GAS requires no mountaineering expertise

Must See

The Grande Anello dei Sibillini 8-day trek, Sibillini National Park, Monte Vettore, Monte Sibilla, Piano Grande, Monte Bove

ISBN

9781852845353

Availability

Published

8 Jan 2009

Reprinted

13 Jun 2013

Edition

First

Pages

192

Size

17.20 x 11.60 x 1.20cm

Weight

230g

Overview

A detailed guidebook to walking in Italy's Sibillini National Park. 21 day walks and one 8-day trek of the Monti Sibillini (that belongs to the Appenine Chain) route descriptions are provided in the guidebook, with maps and profiles given for each walk. The day walks range from 3 to 21km in length. The 8-day trek around Italy's Great Sibylline Ring is 120km long, with mountain huts available to stay in along the way.

No special equipment or training is required for this route, but a lightweight rucksack, hiking boots and walking poles are recommended. The area has a lengthy walking season from early spring to late autumn, and refuges are open from mid-April to mid-October. Easily accessible the area can be reached from budget airline destinations on the Adriatic Coast, as well as from Rome. The Monti Sibillini straddles the Marche and Umbria, close to the towns of Norcia, Ascoli Piceno, L'Aquila and Perugia. Details of accommodation, refreshments and public transport along all the routes are also included with full-colour sketch maps and profiles.

Table of Contents

CONTENTS

Map Key

Overview Maps

Introduction

Monti Sibillini

Walking

When to Go

Weather Notes

Access

Exploring the Sibillini

Information

How to Use this Guide

Emergencies

Maps

Waymarking

What to Take

Accommodation

Food and Drink

Plant Life

Wildlife

The GAS – Grande Anello dei Sibillini

Stage 1 Visso to Cupi

Stage 2 Cupi to Fiastra

Stage 3 Fiastra to Garulla

Stage 4 Garulla to Rubbiano

Stage 5 Rubbiano to Colle di Montegallo

Stage 6 Colle di Montegallo to Colle le Cese

Stage 7 Colle le Cese to Campi Vecchio

Stage 8 Campi Vecchio to Visso

Shorter Walks

1 Valle del Fiastrone

2 Lago del Fiastrone and the Lame Rosse

3 Cascate dell’Acquasanta

4 Bolognola Sentiero Natura

5 Upper Valle dell’Ambro

6 Val di Panico and Pizzo Tre Vescovi

7 Monte Priora

8 The Monte Bove Circuit

9 Gole dell’Infernaccio

10 Monte Sibilla Circuit

11 Monte Porche and Palazzo Borghese

12 Nocelleto to Forca di Gualdo

13 Preci and Sant’Eutizio

14 Monte Patino

15 Foce and Lago di Pilato

16 Castelluccio to Lago di Pilato

17 Monte Vettore

18 Monte delle Rose

19 Castelluccio and the Piano Grande

20 The Dogana Loop

21 I Pantani

Appendix Italian–English Glossary

Maps

Maps

In combination with a compass, a detailed topographical map showing natural features is essential for exploring the Sibillini on foot. The sketch maps in this guide are only intended as a rough guide and are limited by space restrictions. Hopefully all walks will go well, however in adverse weather conditions such as low cloud with limited visibility, orientation can become a real problem as landmarks are few and far between and a clear map comes into its own.

The best walking map by far is the ‘Parco Nazionale dei Monti Sibillini’ scale 1:25,000, published by SER (Società Editrice Ricerche). It is on sale throughout the park and neighbouring towns, and can also be ordered from www.edizioniser.com. Kompass also do a decent 1:50,000 walking map – map 666 Monti Sibillini – which is available in many overseas outlets. It obviously has less detail, but the smaller size makes it handier to use. Be warned however that Walks 1 and 2 are missing from it, as is a chunk of the GAS Stage 3. The park authorities have also published a new 1:40,000 map (2012). The Park routes are marked in red on the map while other CAI paths are shown in blue. It is on sale locally but can be downloaded free from www.sibillini.net.

Users of the GPS will be pleased to know that the waypoints relevant to the long-distance trek GAS described in this guide can be downloaded from the website of the Sibillini Park at www.sibillini.net.

Updates

August 2020

Walk 7 - Monte Priora

Access: The 6km road from Pintura di Bolognola to Rifugio del Fargno is currently closed to traffic so allow extra time to
get to the walk start. Otherwise, stay at the rifugio and begin the walk from there. (Thanks to Michael Huggins)

August 2018

Route updates and corrections

There's been an increase in cases of TBE (tick-borne encephalitis) across Europe, Italy included. Walkers should be aware that they may pick up ticks while walking through grass and woodland up to approx 1500 metres altitude. Not all ticks carry the disease but better safe than sorry. Simple precautions and plenty of useful information is available on the website: https://ecdc.europa.eu/en/tick-borne-encephalitis. Vaccination is also an option.

Oct 2017

My wife and I have just returned from a weeks walking in the Sibillini National Park in Italy. As can be imagined, the after effects of the earthquakes are still obvious with closed villages (red zones), blocked roads and many paths affected by rockfall. Information on road closures is not readily available. Limited accommodation is available. We did a number of walks from the Cicerone guide and climbed some other hills. Beautiful scenery, great food and wine plus amazingly cheerful people. (Courtsey of Graham Little)

September 2017

CAI, the Italian Alpine Club, is working constantly on restoring access to paths and routes in the Sibillini mountains as well as many parts of the Italian regions of Marche, Umbria and Abruzzo affected by earthquakes. The web site http://ripartiredaisentieri.cai.it/ is packed full of walking and cycle routes to encourage visitors to return to these beautiful areas and bring much-needed work to the local populations who are slowly moving back to pick up their lives again.

Though the web site is in Italian, maps and tracks are available so visitors can easily make plans.

January 2017

Good news: after aerial reconaissance in December the Sibillini Park Authority say that the paths on the Grande Anello dei Sibillini GAS ring route have not been damaged. (Walkers will need to check whether or not accommodation is open.)

For the time being, valleys to be avoided include: Valle dell'Acquasanta, Infernaccio, Valle del Lago di Pilato (from Foce), Val di Panico, Bove, Tenna and the Lame Rosse canyon.
The Park now has temporary premises and can be contacted for information through www.sibillini.net and its Facebook page where updates are posted; http://www.facebook.com/pages/... 2016

VERY IMPORTANT: More strong earthquakes in October 2016 have caused extensive damage across the Sibillini, landscape and villages included. Walkers should avoid the areas for the time being.

August 2016

Warning from the Italian Mountain Rescue:In the wake of the disastrous earthquake on August 24, continuing earth tremors have caused rockfalls and path damage in the Sibillini mountains. Walkers are advised to check locally before embarking on walks and for the time being avoid canyons and ridges routes.

June 2014

Accommodation info changed:p59 Altino (1035m) accommodation at Rifugio Altino www.rifugioaltino.it, open year-round tel 0736 610929, mob 338 6769985 or 339 4329874.

August 2013

p56 Rifugio Giglio Rosso Rubbiano www.rifugiorubbiano.com Tel 0736 859184

Stage 6: route changes have been reported - the GAS evidently no longer goes
via Colleluce or Astorara - follow the new signposts and waymarks.
p72 Rifugio Campi Vecchio temporarily closed

(Thanks to Annette Machon)

November 2011

p.38 Additional place to stay in Visso – B&B Casa dell'Artista tel 0737 9364.

p.66 – Rifugio Vittorio Ratti is now known as Rifugio Genziana and the phone no has changed to 0743 828623

with thanks to Tom Kemp

October 2010

Grande Anello dei Sibillini (GAS):
Stage 4 - Rubbiano: B&B Ca' de la Rossa could be a convenient substitute for the still-unopened rifugio. Tel 333 8412523 or email: bbcadelarossa@libero.it

Stage 5 - Colle di Montegallo: changed phone and improved new management for rifugio tel: 0736 806310.

Reviews

"We spent the first 16 days of September walking in Italy's Sibillini National Park and our main gude was Gillian Price's excellent Cicerone Guide. Thank you.

Sibillini remains a truly outstanding walking area with a wide and largely untapped appeal - and we hope that Cicerone will firmly keep it in its sights.... We've used dozens of Cicerone Guides over the last 30 years... and this was an especially good one in bringing this wonderful park to life."

Reader review, October 2014

The Park is renowned for its wild flowers and dramatic scenery although it is not well known outside Italy....As with many Cicerone guides, this little book is a must for any walker visiting the area.

Strider (Long Distance Walker's Association) April 2009

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Gillian Price

Gillian Price has trekked throughout Asia and the Himalayas, but now lives in Venice. Gillian has steadily explored the mountain ranges of Italy, and Corsica, and brought them to life for visitors in a series of outstanding guides for Cicerone. She is an active member of the Italian Alpine Club (CAI) and Mountain Wilderness.

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