Parco Nazionale del Vesuvio

Itineraries

The Park by Mountain Bike

Parco Nazionale del Vesuvio has prepared two cycling tracks: the first one crossing the Forest Reserve Tirone - Alto Vesuvio and running along the slope of Vesuvius, the second one going from this point to the coppice chestnut tree woods of Mt. Somma.

1st Route
The first cycling route develops within the Forest Reserve Tirone Alto Vesuvio along the narrow road leaving from the SP road Vesuvio in Ercolano and leads to the ancient road climbing to Vesuvius from the side of Trecase, Strada Matrone.
The track crosses a strict nature area by partly following the pedestrian "Sentiero natura" n. 4 “Attraverso la Riserva Tirone” already created by Parco Nazionale del Vesuvio in 1999.
2nd Route
The second route leaves from the road Osservatorio in Ercolano and continues along the slope of Mt. Somma with wide views over the municipal territories between S. Anastasia and Somma Vesuviana.
It develops along one of the most renaturalized slopes of the complex Somma - Vesuvio, thanks to the restraints already existing on the cutting of coppice chestnut tree woods dominating the local flora. Path n° 3 of Parco nazionale del Vesuvio, called “Il Monte Somma”, is one of the most interesting for its landscape and environmental features and for the presence of several works of arrangement of the slope carried out with naturalistic engineering experimental techniques.

PDF files, Italian text:
Brochure (502 Kb)	Map (144 Kb)	Rules (120 Kb)

The Trail Network in the Park

Parco nazionale del Vesuvio is provided with a network which is articulated into 15 trails: they allow tourists to enjoy the beauty and the peculiarity of the whole volcanic complex Somma-Vesuvio and to experience the direct contact with the magic of the surrounding landscape. There are some ring-routes called "sentieri natura" whose difficulty depends on the training level of tourists. There are also some uphill panoramic trails to reach the crater of Gran Cono, an educational and an agricultural trail. Each trail is well-signalled and provided with information panels dealing with the features of the route, its geological, historical and natural characteristics. As far as the safety of these trails is concerned, new techniques which do not damage the environment have been exploited.

(the following links all lead to Italian texts)

Further info

Accessible Trails

Monte Somma

Mt. Somma

Total length: 7,650 m
Highest altitude: 1,132 m above sea- level
Difficulty: high
Walking time
Nearest stop: hours 1,30’’ back and forth
Intermediate stop: hours 3’’ back and forth
Final stop: hours 5 back and forth

Departure from Ercolano - via San Vito
(It is a ring-route. The departure point coincides with the arrival).
From this itinerary it is possible to reach Punta Nasone through the closed stretches of the mixed mesophyle wood and the open stretches of the broom thickets. Tourists will reach the Cognoli di Trocchia and Sant’Anastasia and finally the peak of Mt. Somma. From here it is possible to reach the Sanctuary of Santa Maria a Castello.

Description of the accessible trail
"Lo stradello della via Traversa"

"Stradello della Via Traversa" sets off from the SP road leading from Ercolano to the Crater of Vesuvio, and going ahead along the northern slope of Mt. Somma with views over the municipal territories situated between S. Anastasia and Somma Vesuviana.
The trail develops along the first stretch of the nature trail n. 3 “Il Monte Somma”, characterized by the presence of several works to recover the slope, carried out with experimental techniques of naturalistic engineering, adapted to the Mediterranean ecosystems.
It is a particularly panoramic trail: in the first stretch you will enjoy a beautiful view of the Gulf of Naples and of Riserva Forestale dello Stato Tirone Alto Vesuvio.
In order to make the trail accessible for a stretch of 800 meters, a paving of tiles made of recycled plastic material has been created: they are formed by cells with an hexagonal structure reinforcing the bottom of the path and making it easy to go through; a fence provided with string handrail borders the trail; the rope is fixed into iron supports which every 100 meters are characterized by a relief hemispheric marker. By touching it, you can understand distances.
In the first stretch, the trail is open and, after a series of bends, it crosses a lava tongue belonging to the last eruption of Vesuvio dating back to 1944, reaching the town of San Sebastiano al Vesuvio. On the lava you can recognize the coral-shaped Stereocaulon vesuvianum, whose name derives from the characteristic grey-silver color of the lichen. In this stretch, the ecosystem is characterized by the broom maquis with helichrysum, valerian, and dock.
After an hairpin bend on the left you will enter a mesophile wood, in which you can recognize among the arboreal essences, the Locust Tree and the Chestnut Wood.
Along the left edge of the trail, you will find a series of dry-stone walls in lava stone on which it is easy to recognize the Navelwort. It is a succulent plant with fleshy leaves characterized by a central hollow which can be easily recognized if you touch it.
The fauna living in these woods is rich and interesting: among the mammals there are the Dormouse, rare in other parts of Italy, the Common Dormouse, the Weasel, the Fox, the Wild Rabbit, and the Hare. The avifauna includes several wintering and nesting species, among which the Buzzard, the Kestrel, the Sparrow Hawk, the Peregrine, and the Hoopoe.

Technical Card
Trail number: 14 Name: “Lo stradello della via Traversa”
Departure	Gate open along the SP road Ercolano - Vesuvio (678 m above sea level)
Arrival	Altitude 710 m above sea level
Length	800 m
Walking time	1h back and forth
Difficulty	low

On Foot in the Park

The volcanic complex Somma-Vesuvio has always been visited by man who has, during the centuries, traced out a thick net of trails. Unfortunately, some of these have been buried by the asphalt, others have been abandoned and no traces of them have been left, others are still intact and the Park is recovering them to make them accessible to visits. On the map only the main trails have been signalled, some of which are closed by access bars. For two of these, the first one going from the provincial road of Ercolano into the Reserve "Alto Vesuvio-Tirone" and the second one, leading from the old Strada Matrone and from Trecase to the Crater, the authorisation from the Azienda di Stato per le Foreste Demaniali is necessary. As for the trail leaving from the Mediceo Castle of Ottaviano, the access bar forbids the entrance to cars and motorbikes, but not to pedestrians and mountain bikes. This trail crosses a slope of Mt. Somma which is almost completely covered by woods, and it leads you to enjoy the view over the Valle dell'Inferno.

From this trail you can take a detour leading to another charming view over the Valle dell'Inferno, in the shade of Punta Nasone. From the church of Santa Maria a Castello, in the upper part of Somma Vesuviana, it is possible to climb an old trail leading through the wood to the top of Mt. Somma, the Punta Nasone. The trail leading to the walk on the crateric edge and starting at 1.000 meters is controlled by the Collegio regionale Guide Alpine Vulcanologiche della Campania and a ticket must be purchased for the entrance.
To anyone who want to continue the visit of the Italian Volcanic Parks, Parco Nazionale del Vesuvio suggests Parco Regionale dell'Etna with which it has a twinship.