SI V23F

A stage with interesting elevation changes; ideal for those who love to take on this kind of "challenge." The difficulty largely depends on how one chooses to approach it. From Etna towards the Alcantara Valley, it is almost exclusively downhill, but if tackled in the opposite direction, it can present some difficulties due to the elevation gain, approximately 1200 meters of ascent. From Piano Provenzana, an easy dirt road leads to the crater of Monte Nero where the descent begins. Passing by the Rifugio Timparossa, you descend to Monte Pomiciaro among the lava flows of 1946 and 1947. Continuing downhill, you cross the former track at an altitude of a thousand meters and leave the boundaries of the Etna Park, where, among narrow and scenic mule tracks, surrounded at times by typical dry stone walls and rustic country houses made from black “sciare,” you pass through vineyards, olive groves, and rural landscapes, reaching the left bank of the Alcantara River. This last, important artery serves as a fundamental junction for maintaining the ecological corridor between Etna, the Peloritani, and the vast Nebrodi park. A stage that allows one to appreciate not only the extraordinary generative power of Etna but also the millennial connection that exists between the populations who have settled on the slopes of the volcano, together with the incessant and industrious action of the waters of the Alcantara and its lush riverine environments.