Monte Amiata

The proposed itinerary starts in Arcidosso, in the central Piazza Indipendenza, where the roads to Grosseto, Casteldelpiano and Santa Fiora converge. You descend in the direction of the hamlet of Bagnoli on asphalt, but at the crossroads for the village you continue left (still on asphalt uphill) in front of the small church of Santa Mustiola. After the hamlets of Capannelle and Grappolini the road climbs to the hamlet of Piane, where you turn left towards San Lorenzo downhill. Once in San Lorenzo, at the Audibert crossroads, turn right slightly uphill (via della Montagna).

The first section is paved, then becomes dirt and begins to climb among chestnut trees also with steep, cemented sections. At an obvious fork we turn left, cross a flat section among the chestnut trees and reach the paved road from Casteldelpiano up to the summit. A few meters uphill and then we return among the chestnut trees to the first obvious forest road on our left. Here begins the stretch that will take us laboriously over the Bugnano ditch, over a thousand meters among the chestnut trees on the Grosseto side.

Cemented ramps follow one another frequently, and when the road seems to end we need to get off our bikes and walk ahead of us among the chestnut trees. Shortly afterwards we will be faced with a rocky passage to be passed with extreme care, this being exposed and full of leaves that can mislead us as to where to put our feet. With extreme care we pass the bicycle through the cleft between the trachyte rocks and continue (on foot) along the coast having as a reference some fir trees that stand out among the chestnut trees.

We are now in sight of a cultivated chestnut grove and a road, upon reaching it we can start riding uphill again. The road skirts the chestnut trees and suddenly enters deep green beech trees.

Soon after we will find ourselves in the shade of a wonderful beech forest under which we will reach the Bugnano ditch, characterized by a huge trachyte boulder. From here the trail is marked with white-red markers, being part of the Amiata ring trail. We continue on a mostly uphill marked road to a clearing (pian dei Mandrioli) where we continue left first and then right until we reach the asphalt road from Seggiano up to the Amiata peak. We cross the road near the Capo Vetra spring (the best water in Amiata) and continue to the forest refuge. From here we follow the path to the left of the refuge past a couple of springs until we return under a thick beech forest, also among the most beautiful on the Mountain.

The forest path we follow skirts high bastions of trachyte and is immersed in a very impressive environment. At the next fork we go up to the right on the forest road (note: if we continue on the previous road straight ahead we can reach Ermicciolo-a charming little church in the woods-and the Sources of Vivo; just continue to the hairpin bend on the left and near this continue straight on the forest path; the area of Ermicciolo and Sources is characterized by small lakes, small waterfalls and canals under the chestnut forest). The forest road climbs steadily and passes in front of a characteristic drilled stone (Pietra Porta), past aqueduct intakes (Fonte Barbara) until it reaches the paved road from the Abbadia up to the Vetta.

We turn right uphill for a few kilometers of asphalt until we reach the First Amiatino Refuge, where we take the stony road between dwellings that will take us again to cross another asphalt road at Capanna del Guardiano. We cross the paved road and continue straight ahead on the forest road, which will take us once again to the Bugnano ditch, but higher up than before. A detour to the left uphill and we soon arrive at the Prato delle Macinaie. Toward the Contessa there is a bit of asphalt, but it is possible to cut back by taking a forest road with a steep final stretch.

When we reach the Prato della Contessa we ignore the asphalt ascent toward the summit and continue toward Arcidosso and Santa Fiora, on asphalt; at the next fork we turn - still on asphalt - toward Santa Fiora, descending for a few hundred meters to a rest area with braziers, which we find on our left. Here begins a stretch of uphill forest road that will take us up to the Piano dei Partigiani, a vast plateau (recently affected by a cutting area) where among the rocks are visible the ovens where partisans baked bread during the last conflict. From Pian dei Partigiani the road begins to descend decidedly into the undergrowth, and care must be taken on the last stretch where there are deep gullies dug by the rain.

At the bottom of the descent we go up to the right to the Metatelle springs (bench and fountain) continuing (for a few stretches on foot) on the red-and-white marked trail. At the end of the nice single track we find ourselves again on the asphalt road, which we cross (reference to the Amiata trail signs on the opposite side) to descend decisively into the beech forest (here pay attention to the red-white signs on the trees, the discasa goes a bit .... improvised ...). When we reach Fonte delle Monache we continue to another asphalt road, which we cross to continue into the woods (red white signs).

The descent ahead of us is very nice but the bottom is dirty and has numerous stones and gullies; it must be traveled carefully. At the end of the descent we find ourselves on a white forest road, where we turn left downhill. A few meters later we enter the forest on a beautiful single track that goes around Poggio Trauzzolo and crosses numerous trachyte boulders; with a little attention it is possible to ride it almost entirely in the saddle. From the trail, the path widens and always downhill (caution: stony section) we come to a junction at which we turn right, uphill.

We now travel along the main road, which shortly begins to descend steeply on a stony forest road. At the end of the long descent we find ourselves on a dirt road at which we turn right and left again at the 2nd subsequent fork. We will ride on a flat path for a few kilometers (Pian delle Mura) and then descend towards the hamlet of Bagnore. At a fork (another Audibert crossroads) we turn left arriving at the paved road that connects Santa Fiora with Arcidosso. We follow it to the right until we reach Bivio delle Aiole (restaurant) and descend to Arcidosso on asphalt.

(NOTE: from here it is also possible to get to Arcidosso on a dirt road: at the junction of the Hotel Colle degli Angeli we continue past the hotel in the direction of Merigar; having arrived after an uphill stretch at the Tibetan study center we turn right and reach Arcidosso following the red and white signs through the Puzzole and Torricella area to the Monument).

At the next hairpin bend straight on asphalt towards Capenti until the houses of the hamlet Piane del Maturo. Left after the last house and downhill to Bagnoli, passing under Molinaccio (watch out for people walking ....) and then back to the road taken at the beginning of the tour.