Sibillini trail 253: Forca di Gualdo – Gualdo

The route of trail 253 from Forca di Gualdo to Gualdo

At Forca di Gualdo there are two parking lots, a picnic area, a drinking water point and the church of the Madonna della Cona. From the church, the Park writes, the Pian Perduto of Castelluccio, the Monte Vettore group and Monte Lieto can be seen.

The first 500 meters are level. Then the trail plunges down: between km 0.5 and km 1.5 it loses 300 m, the steepest section. To the side, about 150 meters away, is the Fonte della Ceppara spring.

Below 1,200 m the descent becomes gentle. At km 2.7 the trail passes the church of the Madonna delle Macchie, also called La Madonnella. 250 meters from the end trail 254 arrives, and the route ends in Gualdo, not far from the church of Santa Maria della Piazza.

Trail 253 technical details

Walked uphill, from Gualdo, trail 253 involves 500 m of elevation gain, almost all of it in the second half.

The Park uses it downhill in the E11 hiking route, "Nel territorio del cervo" (In red deer country): a loop of 14.9 km and 1,200 m of elevation gain, 5 hours and 30 minutes counterclockwise, graded EE and listed as open and maintained. The area, the Park explains, is where the red deer was reintroduced, after more than two hundred years of absence from the Sibillini.

Sibillini trail 253 map

Trail 251 also starts from Forca di Gualdo, climbing to Monte Pian Falcone. Trail 254, at the bottom, leads back toward Nocelleto: it is open according to the Park, which includes it in the E11, while the CAI data list it as closed; it is advisable to check its status before using it.