Ciclovia del Navile e del Reno Gravel

A beautiful #gravel ride on a route that’s perfect for this type of bike. The ride starts in Bologna, and after following the bike path along the boulevards, you reach Via Carracci and enter the park where the Navile bike path begins. The route follows the Navile Canal and is a beautiful dirt path with a surface of compact gravel or soil, making it easy to ride even when wet. The bike path is well-marked, and only on a few short stretches do you ride on a dirt trail. The route continues to follow the canal all the way to Centergross, then branches off to pass by the Museo Contadino and San Marino di Bentivoglio (on bike paths or secondary roads). You return to the banks of the Navile and pass through Bentivoglio, then continue on dirt paths to the beautiful La Rizza Oasis (which is worth a visit by following the nature trail and doing a bit of birdwatching).

Leaving the oasis, continue along the bike path (which veers away from the canal for a stretch) until you reach the Ponticelli di Malabergo. Here, leave the Navile and, via bike paths and small roads, reach S. Pietro in Casale; following the bike path, you arrive at Pieve di Cento. After crossing the village before the bridge over the Reno, take the Reno bike path to the left. It’s a beautiful path along the riverbank, with excellent compact terrain of gravel or dirt, but it’s also easy to ride even when the ground is wet. Only on a few short stretches where there are riverbank reinforcement works is the ground a bit less compact, and riding becomes more difficult when the surface is wet. Follow the entire riverbank, passing Argelato on the left, then Castel Maggiore and Trebbo. After Trebbo, the path along the riverbank becomes a bit rough, and in the final stretch, you descend from the riverbank and take a dirt road that may be muddy (alternatively, turn left onto the bike path along Via Zanardi). Cross a quarry and take the bike path that runs alongside Via Zanardi all the way to Bologna. Here, follow the bike path along the boulevards to the Giardini Margherita and then back to the starting point.

Difficulty: S1