Ferretto - Petrignano

The itinerary starts at the lay-by near the sports field along the road linking Ferretto and Petrignano. From here, we cross the road to take a dirt track through the woods, heading towards Ferretto.

One of the unique environmental features distinguishing this itinerary is the presence of a relict lowland forest that extends for several hundred hectares. The track goes past abandoned farmhouses and broad agricultural fields in the plains.

When we pass an age-old oak tree, we bear left and return to route SP 302. We head right towards Ferretto and, after going about 300 metres, in front of the entrance to a villa we turn right and enter the woods again. We continue for about 250-300 metres to a glade dotted with heather.

At this point - and following the signs carefully - we take the track ahead to the left. We cross another stretch of Calluna vulgaris - the botanical name for heather - and sparse oak trees, continuing along a track overgrown with heather that skirts an agricultural field. We walk through typical woods with numerous pine thickets that were planted and then abandoned. We go past a pond, other farmhouses and a large abandoned orchard.

We take a paved secondary road and then continue through the oak forest – again with clumps of pine trees - whereas shrubs are represented chiefly by heather and juniper. After passing a small group of renovated houses, we continue towards Pieracci and, at the junction, take the paved road to Petrignano del Lago. We continue along several different dirt tracks and roads between farms - following the signs carefully - to return to our starting point.