Parco Nazionale Arcipelago Toscano

Easy trail

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

• Departure: Loc. Enfola, Portoferraio
• Arrival: Loc. Enfola, Portoferraio
• Duration: 2 hour/s
• Difficulty Level: Easy
• Length: 4.4 km
• Difference in height: Uphill 278m

The Enfola peninsula is 6 km from Portoferraio; cars can be left at the parking area on the isthmus connecting the peninsula with the rest of the island. The promontory's landscape, nature and history are among Elba's most valuable. The tuna-fishery building testifies to this ancient tradition, that Grand-duke Ferdinando I Medici introduced on the island in the 16th century, and that came to an end in 1958 when the tuna canning factory was closed. The boathouses were placed in the service area, while the building - which today houses the Park offices - was used for the storage of fishing and processing equipment. With the building on your left, walk up a dirt road. Rosemary, lentisk, Italian buckthorn, myrtle, broom, Phillyrea, evergreen oaks, strawberry trees and heather grow on the roadside: the colours and scents of the Mediterranean maquis are all around you. The road leisurely zigzags up the hill, offering wonderful glimpses of the coast below. The ruins scattered along the road are the remains of the De Filippi coastal artillery, an imposing defence system that the Italian royal navy built between 1920 and 1930. The aiming station, which designated targets for large caliber cannons, was near the hilltop; below, there were the barracks, the power station and converter, and the tanks. At the top of the promontory a panoramic path begins, which is narrower than the previous one and circles around Mt. Enfola. Past the former magazine, the path enters the maquis. Further on, past one of the firing places, plants grow taller and the path enters a wood of pines, evergreen oaks, heather and strawberry trees. The downhill path to Capo d'Enfola branches off there: it is a narrow and demanding track that leads to the cliffs near Scoglio della Nave and ends at a panoramic spot. It crosses a low-growing maquis of heather, juniper and Anthyllis barba-jovis to a garrigue of Helichrysum, silver ragwort and coastal medick, where colonies of yellow-legged gulls often nest. Go back to the main path to circle the mountain and reach the road you walked on before, back to the point of departure.