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
This is a long and very varied section, which involves crossing the Montalbo ridge, walking for a good stretch on the ridge in typically karst environments with sweeping 360° views, and crossing the entire southern slope, densely wooded, down to the bottom of the valley, which is crossed by provincial road SP 45 and state road SS 131 DCN, near Monte Pizzinnu.
After passing these main roads, and still in a densely wooded environment, the route climbs up the northern slope of the Remulis Mountains to an elevation of 500 m asl, then continues north to the Janna pass, from where a stretch of blacktop road leads to the Norghio stop point.
This stage alternates paths, livestock trails, forest tracks and stretches of blacktop road, making it very varied but, given the differences in elevation, also quite challenging. Given its length, you may choose to split the stage into two or more days, with wild camping overnight at suitable points in the Altudè (N 40.48638° E 9.56507°) and Talachè localities (N 40.48356° E 9.62311°) or booking accommodation with Tonino Taras (mobile: 3496351871) at the Ammentos inn (N 40.54168° E 9.60236°), former Cantoniera Guzzurra on SP 3, which can be reached via a short detour on CAI numbered paths; please note that the inn is closed in winter.
We recommend extreme caution in the event of fog, which is frequent on high ground. Please also be mindful that there are very few water fountains along the route.
