Parco Nazionale Arcipelago Toscano

Demanding trail

• Trail Conditions: On foot
• Interest: Flora, Wildlife, Panorama

• Departure: Marciana Marina
• Arrival: Marciana Marina
• Duration: 5 hour/s
• Difficulty Level: demanding
• Length: 12 km
• Difference in height: Uphill 633m

Take path No 150 in Marciana Marina, by the Fenicia beach (from "feno", Elban for hay). The shaded, cool path follows the island's north-western coast, in a thick Mediterranean maquis. It is hardly to believe that, only a few decades ago, these slopes were entirely terraced and used as agricultural land, by means of kilometres of dry stone walls to make the most of even the steepest stretches. Nature quickly reclaimed the area. Blackbirds and blackcaps can be heard along the path and, if you walk quietly, you may spot some mouflons. Reptiles such as the harmless green whip snake, and wall and green lizards are easy to spot on the stone walls. The coolest areas are covered in moss and lichens, as well as maidenhair spleenwort, a type of small and elegant fern; fleshy plants, such as the navelwort, inhabit instead the sunny areas. After a short stretch uphill path No 150 merges with a tarmac road; after about 500 metres the road bifurcates: path No 150A is a short track that leads to a panoramic spot, overlooking the coast around Punta della Madonna and Punta del Nasuto. The latter is an important nesting ground for the rare Audouin's gull, symbol of the Park. Walk past the junction with path 150F, and take path 150B if you wish to descend to the beach of Ripa Barata ("precipitous" or "crumbled shore" in local dialect), which is made of large round rocks. The road ends shortly after the junction, and turns into a narrow path that winds among some former rural houses and then leads to La Cala: the place takes its name from a bay with a gravel beach. The itinerary goes on uphill to Maciarello, where the path briefly merges with a tarmac road, then to the pretty beach of Cotoncello, and finally along the cliff and to the beach of Sant'Andrea. Path 150 continues to Patresi Mortaio.