| Monte Cimone traverse
CW from above Fiumalbo Monte Cimone |
| Estimated net time | 3½-4½ hours |
| Difficulty | No difficulties. |
| Drinking water | Access to drinking water from a fountain towards the end of the route. |
| GSM coverage | Coverage throughout most of the route, including at the summit (July 2008). |
| Parking | Room for many cars at trail head. |
| Start height | 1370 metres |
| Vertical metres | 800 metres for the roundtrip |
| Trip distance | 11.5 km |
| GPS-file | X |
| Map | |
| Route photo |
From south (e.g. Lucca) follow road s12 north in the direction of Modena. After having passed Passo del Abetone drive down towards the village Fiumalbo. The distance from Lucca to Fiumalbo is approximately 75 km. If arriving from north (e.g. Modena) drive road s12 to Fiumalbo, and follow the directions below.
When you arrive Fiumalbo drive down to the village centre, cross the bridge, turn right, and drive through a small tunnel. From the tunnel follow the road upwards for 2.5 km, and fork right. Continue another 1.7 km until you get a large car park on your left. Park here.
From the car park there are two hiking routes; one to the right (where you will come down), and one which continues in the direction you arrived the car park. Follow this latter road, and fork right almost immediately, following the gravel road uphill. Follow this mountain road for 4.0 km, until you get to the north-west ridge of Monte Cimone. At this point (this point is where the mountain road for the first time clearly descends) turn right from the mountain road and follow the ridge uphill. The path up here is very vague in the beginning, but there are small cairns that make it very obvious where to walk. These cairns can be hard to spot from the mountain road, but are very visible after you have ascended a few tens of metres of the north-west ridge. Follow this path all the way up to the summit.
From the summit you continue south-east, on the right hand side of the big building, following a clearly marked path. Continue on this path all the way down and up and down, until the path continues uphill to the next mountain. At this point route "489" forks off the the right, and is clearly marked. Follow route "489" all the way back to the car park.
Elisabeth and me did this hike together, on a glorious Friday, the last day before heading back to Norway. We drove from Lucca at 06:20, and were ready to start hiking at 08:10 after having "competed" with crazy Italians on the zigzagging roads up and down Passo del Abetone.
We did an average pace up to the summit, enjoying the nice sun. And eagerly trying to capture a photo of one of the many marmots running around in the mountain, without much luck. At the summit we enjoyed the fine views, although a bit hazy, and consumed our packed lunch. We then continued across the mountain and walked back down to the car, meeting one other person close to the summit.