This has been the first Sentiero Natura ever to be created in Sicily (in mid-1991) and today it remains one of the most popular hiking trails in the territory of the Etna Park. It is named after the Sicilian dialectal term for pine trees. The route is not particularly difficult. It unwinds from the plateau located West of Monte Vetore (1823 m a.s.l.) at a short distance from the Grande Albergo dell’Etna. It crosses ancient and recent lava fields (1985-2001), lava flow caves, hornitos, \u201ccannon-shaped\u201d stones (solidified sarcophagi of lava solidified around tree trunks), wooded formations, impressive pines of exceptional beauty, and finally reaches the Botanical Garden New Gussonea.<\/p>\n
This was created by the University of Catania and the Regional Forestry Authority and represents a very important study place. Here all the main environments characterising the Etna area have been recreated and all the plant species of Etna can be observed. From here, along a stretch of paved road, the starting point is reached and the ring route completed. The trail develops entirely within the Forestry Property and offers several observation points, each with its specific features, constituting a significant cross-section of the natural environment of Mount Etna. It is advisable to walk the trail in spring and autumn, avoiding the hot summer climate and the sudden snowfalls that may occur in winter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This has been the first Sentiero Natura ever to be created in Sicily (in mid-1991) and today it remains one of the most popular hiking trails in the territory of the Etna Park. It is named after the Sicilian dialectal term for pine trees. The route is not particularly difficult. It unwinds from the plateau…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2832","sentiero","type-sentiero","status-publish","hentry","description-off"],"acf":{"sentieri":[{"ID":2737,"post_author":"2","post_date":"2019-11-12 15:21:28","post_date_gmt":"2019-11-12 14:21:28","post_content":"The 34.400-km route develops almost entirely along a ring-shaped wide road covering about 60% of the volcano\u2019s perimeter, located at an altitude between a minimum of 1,435 m on the north side to a maximum of 1,917 on the west side. The only exception is a short pass stretching through a narrow lava path resulting from the 1981 eruption, which spilled onto the north flank threatening the town of Randazzo.\n\nThe ring it outlines is not a closed one, due to the chasm of the Valle del Bove, not impossible though difficult to cross.\n\nThough curved in shape, the length and conformation of the Pista Altomontana make it a sort of backbone of the Etna trail network, as it is accessible from almost all the villages surrounding Etna through some paths featuring a roughly radial track. Subsequently, it is possible to proceed towards the summit areas from some of its junctions, following other paths through large radial lines.\n\nThe Pista Altomontana could be defined as the \"hub\" of the Etna trails, as it allows reaching the medium altitudes of the Volcano from one side and descend from another one.\n\nIt also allows crossing and enjoying almost all the landscapes that Mount Etna can offer, ranging from different types of tall trees forests and- in particular - pine woods with larch pine and beech woods, to harsh lava flows characterised by very diverse shapes and appearance. The Pista Altomontana roughly marks the border between the second and third of the three circular belts into which the ancient authors used to divide Etna, that is, the downstream wooded belt and the upstream volcanic desert belt.\n\nFinally, it allows admiring an hourly changing panorama overlooking the two underlying valleys of the Simeto and Alcantara rivers, the mountainous complexes of Nebrodi and Peloritani and the villages scattered across them. Along it, or at short distance, there are a dozen small buildings, generally owned by the former State Forestry Company, some of which are available as emergency shelter or a basic overnight stay for adequately equipped hikers.\n\nThe two ends of the route can be both reached by private motor vehicles and constitute Hiking Base Points.","post_title":"Pista Altomontana (Sentiero Italia)","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"pista-altomontana-sentiero-italia","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2020-11-19 10:49:55","post_modified_gmt":"2020-11-19 09:49:55","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.unescoparcoetna.it\/sentieri\/pista-altomontana-sentiero-italia\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"sentiero","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"parcheggi":"","grotte":"","rifugi":"","galleria":false,"lunghezza":"3","dislivello_massimo":"130","tempo_di_percorrenza":"1 ora","difficolta":"basso\/T","percorribilita":"ottima (trekking\/bici)","informazioni_utili":"Ogni diramazione dal percorso principale \u00e8 indicata dalla caratteristica segnaletica del Club Alpino Italiano mentre lungo tutta la pista \u00e8 possibile trovare diversi segni di conforto a suggerire la direzione da seguire. Si consiglia a tutti gli escursionisti di non uscire dal percorso segnalato, di non gettare rifiuti e di non recare disturbo a vegetazione e\/o animali.","relation":"7854128","id_sentiero":"782","naturalistici":"","panoramici":"","punti_generici":"","colore":"","punto_di_partenza":{"sentiero_di_partenza":false,"altezza_punto_di_partenza":""},"punto_di_arrivo":{"sentiero_di_arrivo":false,"altezza_punto_di_arrivo":""}},"yoast_head":"\n