Parco Nazionale Arcipelago Toscano

Demanding trail

• Trail Conditions: On foot
• Interest: Flora, Wildlife, Panorama, Religion

• Departure: Pomonte
• Arrival: Pomonte
• Duration: 2 hour/s 30 minutes
• Difficulty Level: demanding
• Length: 7 km
• Difference in height: Uphill 548m

The hamlet of Pomonte is on Province Road 25, which runs around the massif of Mt. Capanne. Path No 104 departs from the bypass around the village and goes up to an area with a long agricultural tradition: the sides of Mt. San Bartolomeo have always been terraced to obtain some usable land. Orchards and vegetable patches where planted near the village, vineyards were further up on the mountain. As you go up, you can see below the whole Pomonte valley like a vast amphitheatre looking to the sea, and still largely covered in vineyards and vegetable patches. The higher areas are no longer cultivated and the maquis has reclaimed the land. Shrubs of rock roses, heath and broom grow along the path; rushes,  eagle fern and lesser calamint are to be found around the rare springs and small streams that dry out almost completely in the summer. South-facing dry stone walls are the preferred habitat for lizards, but green whip snakes and - in more humid spots - vipers can also be found. Kestrels and buzzards fly up in the sky looking for reptiles and rodents to prey. At 473 m a.s.l. the path connects with No 103: turn right toward Chiessi. A little below - once you'll have spotted a pretty hamlet on the western side of the mountain, with white houses facing the sea - a secondary path (No 103A) branches off and leads to the ruins of a Romanesque church, on a plateau overlooking two valleys. Go back to the main path and walk downhill toward Chiessi. The signs of past agricultural practices can be seen here as well, and the dry stone walls are covered in a lush vegetation. Near the square of Chiessi head to the village's upper portion across Fosso dei Cotoni: path No 126 begins there and leads back to Pomonte.