Walking tours


The choice to open paths was not an easy one. On the one hand, the Park Authority felt the need to safeguard this fragile territory and to work together with the residents to identify and render viable the thick network of historical paths, the local farm and city roads which intersect the territory even though it is not always simple to understand from the maps that which has been lost or improperly used. There are five marked paths and the Park Authority is working to mark and prepare others.
Path no. 1: Bocca del Lupo
This path comfortably unwinds along city roads and short stretches of the Provincial Panoramic road; it takes about three, three and a half hours to walk this path. The starting point is at the entrance to the Str. S. Bartolo, where a fresco painted by Prof. Paolo Castellani for the Park Authority, illustrates the territorial characteristics and historical-architectural features as in a 17th century map. You can park your car here and begin your walk.
The view opens on Pesaro, as the path rises towards the Provincial road. After the Environmental Technology Centre, managed by the Province, the path is marked with didactic posters relative to the botanical patrimony, illustrating about forty species of trees and shrubs. The path continues in the shade, to the right of the private park of Villa Imperiale, a splendid example of renaissance architecture.
Along the path we find flora which can be divided into three different types: that of natural origin, like smilax, elm, field maple, whitethorn, large pubescent oak, asparagus, madder, St. John's rose, etc; that ties to the presence of man/farmer, like mulberry, olive, fig; finally, plants tied to the historic presence of the villas, with gardens planted with exotic flora, for the most part evergreen like cypress, stone pine, holm-oak, cluster pine, Aleppo pine, etc. Further along, where the Str. Bocca del Lupo meets the Via dell'Altarello, the view opens on the harmonious countryside still rich with hedges that mark the confines of the land, mostly tamarisk and paliurus or Christ's thorn. The Panoramic Provincial Road is crossed and the path continues on an old city road now overtaken by the vegetation. There is a special deviation from the road to take in sea views from S. Marina Alta, and then returning we have Piazzale Hermitage with a spacious view on the sea and the cliffs which brings to mind the country houses and the time when the land was cultivated up to the beach. Then the light house, Villa Imperiale, and then the path goes down again towards the starting point.
It is certainly a path which illustrates the aspects tied most to the activities and presence of man, in this part of the park with a harmonious integration of nature and cultivated land.

Path no. 2: Strada della Marina
This path can be divided into two parts: the first, starting from the locality "Le Logge", is an old short-cut to the town of Fiorenzuola di Focara. It quickly passes from an urban environment to a natural one rich in silence and tranquillity. Once Fiorenzuola di Focara is reached - a small, historical highland village which conserves several memories of its medieval origins - you can take a few minutes to walk along the "Sentiero dell'Amore" (the Path of Love), recently picturesquely restored by the City and by the District, with a splendid view of the sea.
When you are done visiting the town, the second part of the walk begins, descending to the sea along an asphalt road closed to traffic which is easy to walk and has wide views of the sea-cliffs. The path crosses an area reforested in the 1960s with black pine, sycamore maple and cypress. Along the path, you can still see the signs of the presence of antique farming activity (fruit trees, grape vines growing wild) and the alternating of the sand and clay layers which make up the entire hill system overhanging the sea can be observed up-close in stretches of the sea-cliff. After 10 to 15 minutes you reach the beach, the recent results of the raised reefs; in other places it is almost completely submerged.
The small beach has some plants of the psammofila flora. The characteristic vegetation of the sea-cliff is visible, Plinio reeds and perfumed broom, and along the valley lines black poplar and willows emerge. Once the beach is reached, you can continue to walk for about another 100 metres to the north, to see the characteristic "cogoli", rounded sandstone in unusual shapes.
Path no. 3: Sentiero Vincolungo
On the Adriatic State road, at the point where the Colombarone kindergarten is, you can enter the town and park your car. Traversa Vincolungo is the small road on a slight upgrade that crosses an agricultural area with few homes.
The road is lined with old oak trees, at one time a much more common characteristic of many roads and alleys not only in the Park, but in the entire Region. A few hundred metres further up you can take a short detour to see a Marian chapel from the first half of the 1800s, but which, according to parish archive documents, has been present since the 1600s.
Then, continuing to the North you come to a wooded area, and then a cultivated area, then you cross the Panoramic Road and continue up to a panoramic plateau with tables, benches and a display bulletin board. It takes about an hour to reach this point, walking at an easy gait, from here you can either go back the way you came or continue along the Panoramic Road towards Casteldimezzo, another small town of medieval origin, reached after about a 20 minute walk. We point out how this path traces what was probably the antique road that ran a short distance from the late Roman period villa (IV/VI century a.C.) - brought to light during the Colombarone excavations still in progress - characterised by the presence of numerous mosaic mats with black and white tiles, as well as polychrome.
Path no. 4: Sentiero Vallugola
The path begins at a rest area along the Adriatic State road, in proximity to the city of Case Badioli. You go up a dirt road that becomes steeper, until you come to a real path. In this stretch of the path you cross wooded and uncultivated areas as you enjoy a panoramic view over hills and seas. From the highest point then you go down towards Baia Vallugola, crossing the Panoramic Provincial Road to the cross-roads for the small port. Descending, about 200 metres ahead on the right there is a dirt road which you can take in alternative to the asphalt road which runs parallel further down. It crosses a wooded area with a view of the sea and finally reaches a large open area at the water's edge under the sea-cliff.
Path no. 5: Sentiero delle Chiese
This is a short, easy walk almost entirely in the shade of the trees. It starts from the Church of S. Ermete in Gabicce Mare, where there is a pay car park. The first stretch is characterised by wooden steps and hard dirt, as it descends and leaves the town.
Old oaks and elms which once delimited and characterised the confines of the property at the sides of the road stand out amid the lush vegetation which includes spontaneous and non spontaneous species. The presence of water and soil rich in nitrogenous substances favour the presence of elders, lush reed thickets, locust trees over which the foliage of the oaks rise. The ditch is crossed in several points by wooden foot bridges, immersed in the quiet and silence, in a picturesque and restful atmosphere.
The path finally reaches the old road, still carriageable and characterised by rural settlements. The path ends at the height of the old Chiesa della SS. Trinità or del Palazzo, datable to between the 1600s and 1700s and situated on the Strada del Pozzo at about 200 metres from the Adriatica State Road in the vicinity of the turn-off for Gabicce Monte.
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