Italian Alpine Club – Sect. Pistoia

Trail no. 822 San Rocco – Larciano Castello – Località Nardini (to trail no. 800 )

The trail n. 822 starts in the hamlet of San Rocco (50 m above sea level) in Piazza Vittorio Veneto in front of the Town Hall; take Via Roma and follow it until you enter Via Larciano; you will follow it on the left to a tabernacle. Here you take a road on your right (Via Vecchia Larciano) that initially goes down, crosses a stream, then, in correspondence of a large cistern of masonry goes up on the left and immediately after on the right; then at the end of the asphalt you begin to cross a thick olive grove, reach the walls and through a well-preserved gate you enter the small and quiet town of Larciano Castello (165 m above sea level). Following some alleys you go up to the square in the center of the village where the Fortress, the church and the Podesteria are located, and from which the trail no. 826 originates, directed to Cecina. Willing to continue on the trail no. 822, you exit the square from where we entered and turn immediately left to via Podesteria then to via Spinelli, to the north. When behind the fortress you take the asphalt Via Sanbarontana, pass the cemetery and ignoring the side deviations, continue on the main road that in discreet climb crosses two groups of houses then becomes unpaved and less steep; at a ditch you enter the Municipality of Lamporecchio (the road meanwhile has become Via dei Pianali) and going up gradually with a final asphalt stretch you arrive at locality Nardini (riding stables, sports field , Camping “Barco Reale”) where you meet the ridge trail no. 800. Walking along this trail to the right (or alternatively using the road Via Nardini) in another 20 minutes you arrive at the village of San Baronto.

Length Km. 4.400 Travel time: Outward h. 1:45, Return h. 1:20

Italian Alpine Club – Sect. Pistoia

Trail no.826 Larciano Castello -Cecina – Loc.”I Papi” (to trail no. 800)

The starting point is the square of the Church of S. Silvestro and the Rocca. Go down towards the door that opens on the open space where Via Larciano comes from the town of San Rocco; you go down some steps from the road and take a grassy track that goes down between the fields, almost parallel to the road for about 200 m, then, turning abruptly to the left, it enters the wood, crosses a gorge by means of a bridge and climbs the opposite side crossing the asphalt road Via Larciano. It crosses it and goes up the fields on the other side. After about 50 m, there is a unsafe tabernacle and you enter the asphalt Via S. Lucia. Take a short stretch and leave it at a corner to take a unpaved road on the left (locality Colombaia); pass in front of a company that exposes some old olive oil machines then in correspondence of the sign “La Cavallina”, climb a little on your right on a cemented surface trail and immediately after on your left on a grassy path between olive groves. After a short stretch of woodland you go along an olive grove; from here you can admire a wide view of the hill of Monsummano, Montevettolini and, beyond the plain, the Monti Pisani. At a vineyard turn right entering the forest and go down to a farm shed; continue on a flat unpaved road passing next to the farm “La Collina”; continue on a flat unpaved road overcoming the entrance of the farm and shortly after at a cemented stretch you find on your right some unpaved roads. You take the third one along a tabernacle and continuing through a stretch of wood, and going down in a valley where you find an aqueduct system and a large mill renovated but abandoned; turn right onto the unpaved road (this is the Via dei Mulini) that follows for a certain stretch the water course then at a small brick building you leave the unpaved road to take, on your left, a grassy track going slightly uphill. Then enter an olive grove and, on a more challenging climb with some hairpin turns, you come to a unpaved road. Go to your left hand side and after about 200 m you arrive at the parking place which is located at the northern side of the town of Cecina. The small fortified village with the remains of its walls and its church is worth a short visit. You depart from the parking place to the north of the village and walk north about 100 m along the provincial road no. 28 (Via Crocina) then you leave it to take a pleasant unpaved road on your left, between olive groves and small stretches of forest, until you meet an asphalt road (Via Pozzuolo) (km 1.04). Follow it on the right in a steep climb until you find the aforementioned Via Crocina (km 1.33). Here you turn left on Via Case di Monte, a cart track that goes downhill in a valley of the southern slope of Mount Cupoli (m 406).
Near an abandoned house (house number 556), the road makes a hairpin turn and goes up the opposite side to a junction (km 2.34). Take the road on your left (Via dei Rocchi; road sign to Agriturismo Campo Fiorito; road sign Avalon); after about 150 m you touch the elegant farm Campo Fiorito then continuing you find a farmhouse, home to an elfic community. After another 300 m you arrive at a unpaved road at a big concrete pole and a house (Porcile Alto on the map reg. ). This is the trail no. 830 that on the left downhill leads to Montevettolini and then to Grotta Giusti (Monsummano T.). Our itinerary in this stretch coincides with the trail no. 830. It continues on the right uphill and, crossed a panoramic stretch in slight slope, connects to Via Case di Monte (km 3.93) (here with concrete surface). Continue uphill among olive groves along a beautiful house (La Piaggia), then cross a wooded stretch and shortly after the locality Case di Monte; at a short distance from here, you go on your right and arrive at the provincial road no. 27. Here our path ends, meeting the path no. 800 on the ridge: on the left it leads to Serravalle Pistoiese while on the right you go to San Baronto.

Length km 8.300 travel time Outward: h. 3:00 circa Return h. 2:45

Stage n.T18NL-Pistoia-San Baronto – NONANTOLANA-
 LONGOBARDA

Cross Piazza Duomo keeping the Cathedral of San Zeno on the left and taking Via
Stracceria after the Baptistery of San Giovanni in Corte. After a hundred meters you get to
Piazza Sala. Cross it going straight on Via dei Fabbri. After about thirty meters the road turns right and you go right again after 40 meters keeping on Via Fabbri (on the left you see an arch: it is Via Romana). After 30 meters you arrive in Via degli Orafi: continue left. Via
degli Orafi becomes later via della Madonna, via N. Puccini and then via S. Sacconi and
ends with a roundabout after 750 meters. Continue in the direction of the railway, a little left, still going straight along via Nazario Sauro for 1.5 km.

Still walking on the sidewalk
you pass under the motorway junction of Pistoia, cross the bridge over the river Ombrone and take the first street on the left, via C. Bargi. You go through it all, passing the underpass
of the railway tracks, until you reach San Pantaleo and the homonymous church after 500 meters. Keep to the right passing in front of the church and continue on asphalt road for 600
meters along Via Bragi. Now keep left and climb the overpass that passes the A11
motorway. After the overpass continue on the main road that is via Bragi, keeping on the asphalt road and ignoring the side streets.

After 600 meters you cross a bridge over the river
Stella and you arrive at Bragi. After the bridge, take Via di Collina on the right, which goes up among the olive groves. The road is paved and after 1.1 km you reach Collina and the church of Santi Pietro and Girolamo. Continue straight for about 1 km and straight for 1.4
km uphill on Via Vinacciano. Continue along this road until you find a corner that continues to the left towards Vinacciano and on the right there is the indication of the CAI Trail no. 817. Take the path on a forest road uphill and with a stony pavements. After one km you reach the former convent “Madonna delle Grazie”, which you see on the left, now in ruins and abandoned. You overcome it, going up again on the trail dug by the erosion of water, thus reaching a crossroads. Now follow the indications of the CAI Trail no. 800, which goes down until you reach a unpaved road. Follow it on the right until you reach, after a hundred meters, a CAI road-mark on the left. The signal is not clearly visible and you must pay attention not to overcome it, until you get to the farm “Poggio dei Papi”. You overcome it by proceeding for 270 meters on a downhill unpaved road. Once you reach the asphalt road of the Provincial Road no. 27, follow it for 560 meters following the indications of CAI Trail no. 800. Once you reach a corner, you can see a row of cypress trees in front and a headland, again in front, that goes up on the hill among the olive groves. You take it facing the steep climb until you reach a plateau, walking on a slight slope between the cultivation of vines and olive trees for about 1.5 km. Still following the CAI Trail no. 800, you cross the Provincial Road no. 28 and continue straight on the unpaved road that is in front.
Continue straight on the unnpaved road for 450 meters, continue now keeping Via
Sanbarontana on the left. After 495 meters turn left keeping on Via Sanbarontana and after another 230 meters at the junction keep right, slightly uphill, following the trail and continuing in Via San Baronto; the road surface is partly unpaved. Follow the road for about a km until you find the asphalt road of Via Santa Lucia. Proceed to the right in Via Santa Lucia and you are on a partly asphalted partly gravel road for 600 meters turning around the hill, until you descend in Via Santa Lucia continuing straight for 610 meters. Arrived at some large cypresses, which you have on the right, near the road sign school bus for children, now cross the asphalt road of Santa Lucia and take the descending headside that you have in front of the CAI path. Follow it to descend for 175 meters and continue left in via San Francesco, again to descend for 180 meters. Now follow via San Biagio on the left, still following the CAI roadmarks for 340 meters. Follow the CAI indications crossing the forest and arriving in via Nardini, asphalt, after 825 meters. Turn left and take the first right passing behind a football field and going up the hill behind the camping for 565 meters.
Now you find via del Corso which with a steep descent leads to the square in front of the church of San Baronto.