Overview of the itinerary
Sentiero Italia runs the length of the island’s eastern side, covering its most important mountains, in 28 stages. Starting from the north: it flanks the Monte Limbara massif, crosses the limestones of Mont’Albo and Tuttavista, skirting the Gulf of Orosei, it crosses the Supramonte, Gennargentu and the Tacchi of Ogliastra and reaches Perdasdefogu. Further south, it passes through Armungia and the Gerrei sub-region. Lastly, it touches on the villages of Burcei and San Gregorio, continuing on the Sette Fratelli massif to the old prisons of Castiadas.
General information on Sentiero Italia (Grand Italian Trail)
Sentiero Italia, or Grand Italian Trail, as also explained on the official website, is a walking route that crosses the whole of Italy, using mainly but not exclusively “registered trails”.
In particular, in Sardinia, not all the stages of the Sentiero Italia of CAI (Italian Alpine Club) are made of trails already included in the registry of the Sardinia Trail Network (RES), either because they have not yet been tested and approved or simply because they cannot be registered as they do not meet the requirements. However, as a whole, the Sentiero Italia is the single longest walking route currently crossing Sardinia from the north (S. Teresa Gallura, stage Z 1) to the south (Castiadas, end of stage Z 28), touching on the most fascinating mountain areas in central-eastern Sardinia: the plateau of Buddusò, Tepilora, the Cedrino river valley, the ancient forests of Montes, Perda Liana and the regional forest of Montarbu, Monte Genis, and lastly the regional forest of Settefratelli (among the many crossed by the various stages of this long hiking itinerary).
Information on this stage of the trail
After crossing Sant’Antonio di Gallura, after a short stretch of tarmac road, the route turns left in a southerly direction towards the Tradimentu stazzo (farmhouse), along a dirt track. Then take a tarmac road in a south-westerly direction until you reach a roundabout. From there, continue, still in a south-westerly direction, along a small tarmac road until you cross a small bridge over a small stream. Right after the bridge turn left onto an old, little-used livestock trail that leads to an abandoned granite quarry. As the path is uphill, here you can enjoy beautiful views, surrounded by rocks shaped by nature. Continue crossing the land of the Giagucciu stazzo (farmhouse), dotted with beautiful olive trees. Continue, still on a dirt road (in poor conditions in some places), until you reach a short stretch of tarmac road in the direction of the small church of San Tommaso, which has a beautiful juniper wood altar. Here you can take a break at the nearby picnic area before starting the ascent towards Calangianus. Continue on a dirt road for about 7 km, still uphill, reaching above 700 m asl. A final stretch of blacktop road will take you to the village of Calangianus.
