Pianoro di Nasseto
The Nasseto plateau
Medieval pilgrims on their way to Rome who travelled the "Strada dell'Alpe di Serra" (Serra Alps road), were amazed when they found themselves before the undulating Nasseto grassland, a green oasis on the hillside of a desolate arid slope known in remote times as "Biancheria di Romagna" because the layers of marly sandstone made it a ghostly white. Travellers are a little less impressed today when they reach the plateau as the mule track now passes through an area that is even flourishing, such as the lush "Wilderness Area of the Capanno River" just left behind or the dense forest that covers Monte Zuccherodante which has to be climbed to reach the Serra Pass.
The Nasseto farm up here has been chronicled since the fifteen hundreds and, although abandoned only in the nineteen seventies, it has already become a ruin. The extensive grassland was its source of wealth as the livestock of other farms was kept here under a kind of custody arrangement. In spite of the altitude it could be sown with a good crop yield at harvest. Today the ruins of the farm have been made into an ‘open shelter’ equipped with an outdoor wood oven and water, while the great pasture, occupied in the summer by mountain pasture herds, is gradually evolving into a wood and has already been colonised by juniper, blackberry bushes, wild roses and thistles. A splendid but very old road lined with maple trees crosses it and leads to the slopes of Monte Zuccherodante.
The mule track winds into a landscape where the curious outlines of sandstone and arid depressions give it a lunar or fairytale appearance. Geologists call these features slump formations and they are the result of ancient underwater landslides that disturbed the monotonous regular alternation of marly sandstone sedimentation, creating these jagged humps.
Telephone: 0039 0543911011 or 0039 1515 - Fax: 0039 0543911011 - Referent: Corpo Forestale dello Stato
SENTIERO CAI 177 e "VAL DI BAGNO TREK": interamente segnato b/r - LUNGHEZZA: km 2,800 da Gualchiere - DISLIVELLO: + 384 - TEMPO DI PERCORRENZA: 1 / 1,30 ore - DIFFICOLTA': media - PUNTI ACQUA: Gualchiere. - DETTAGLIO PERCORSO: Gualchiere (515 slm) - Maestà Balassini (530 slm) - bivio: a destra per Sentiero CAI 177 - Nasseto (899 slm).
Departing from Bagno di Romagna, take the provincial road SP. 138 southward and then the SP. 137 until you come to a car park (about 1 km) beside the road where the trail begins on the right. The itinerary is not recommended in rainy weather or the winter season. Pay attention to the mountain pasture herds. Boots, mackintosh and water bottle are recommended.