Il Monte Acuto, la montagna alle spalle di AlbaUmbra

Hiking

Trails around Umbertide

Monte Acuto starts right above the house. Abbeys, hermitages, castles and villages are a quarter of an hour away: eight walks for keen hikers, with distances, climbs and times.

Monte Acuto, behind the house

The mountain behind AlbaUmbra, about 925 metres high, has a large cross on the summit and a view over the whole upper Tiber valley. The easiest climbs start from the SP142 road, 2.5 km above the house.

Il Monte Acuto con la croce di vetta, visto dalle colline di Umbertide

Summit loop from Polgeto

6 min 9.4 km · 540 m · 2 h 40

The easiest walk from the house: up through the woods to the summit cross, with the Tiber valley below, and down the other side, with a detour along a nature trail.

Track on Wikiloc

Il versante sud del Monte Acuto, a forma di piramide, sopra i campi della valle

From Pian di Nese to the summit

30 min 11 km · 650 m · about 4 hours

The climb from the south, among broom and juniper, past Galera and the old hamlet of Montacuto up to the cross. The descent on the Perugia side is stony and sunny; cattle graze near the top. In the woods the waymarks are faint in places: take the track with you.

Description and track on L'Olivo e la Ginestra (Italian)

Il Monte Acuto visto dal bosco, sopra Polgeto

Little waterfalls loop

6 min 9.4 km · 580 m · 3 h 10

Same start. You pass the ruined church of Madonna della Costa, climb steeply to the summit facing the Monte Corona hermitage and come down through the woods, with a short detour to the little waterfalls: they run in spring and after rain, but are often dry in summer.

Track on Wikiloc

Antica casa in pietra a Galera, sulle pendici del Monte Acuto

Monte Acuto from Galera

30 min 8 km · 410 m · 3 hours · CAI grade E

The CAI Perugia route: from the hamlet of Galera up to the Cerchiaia hill fort, an ancient stone enclosure overlooking the Tiber, and on to the summit, where traces of an Italic sanctuary remain. Back past abandoned houses and beech and oak woods.

Route by CAI Perugia (Italian)

Montecorona, the abbey and the hermitage

At the foot of the mountain stands the Romanesque abbey of San Salvatore, from the 11th century; at the top, the monks' hermitage. Two loops from the same car park: a gentle one among the olive groves and a long one up to the hermitage.

Badia di Montecorona loop

15 min 10 km · 300 m · 3 h 30

From the abbey a gentle climb through woods and olive groves leads to a viewpoint over Umbertide and the Tiber, past Polgeto castle and the tower of Castiglione dell'Abate. From a clearing you can see the mountains between Umbria and the Marche.

Description on L'Olivo e la Ginestra (Italian)

L'abbazia di Montecorona e il suo campanile

The Mattonata and the Monte Corona hermitage

15 min 12.5 km · 690 m · 4 h 30 · CAI grade E

From the abbey you climb the Mattonata, the paved mule track the monks built in the 16th century to reach the hermitage on the summit (CAI trail 169). The hermitage is home to the monks of Bethlehem: the outer path and the oratory are open, the rest is enclosure. Back via Santa Giuliana and Castiglione dell'Abate.

Route on Umbria Tourism

Montone and around

What to see nearby

Montone, one of the Most Beautiful Villages in Italy, is a quarter of an hour away by car. The town and the CAI of Città di Castello have waymarked the trails around it: you walk among woods and castles and finish in the village lanes.

Dal belvedere in pietra di Montone la vista si apre sulle colline dell'alta valle del Tevere

Montone and Rocca d'Aries

15 min 10 km · 460 m · 3 h 30 with stops

A loop on waymarked trails: from the village down into the valley and up again through fields and woods to Rocca d'Aries, a 14th-century Fortebracci fortress seen from outside, then back to Montone over Monte Gengarella.

Track by Montone Outdoor on Wikiloc

Towards Perugia and Lake Trasimeno

South of Monte Acuto the countryside keeps Etruscan traces; towards the lake, Castel Rigone looks down on Trasimeno. A long walk and a quiet day in the shade of the pines.

L'ingresso della tomba etrusca del Faggeto

The Etruscan tomb of Faggeto

30 min 12 km · 300 m · 4 hours

A loop through oak woods, badlands and pastures from San Giovanni del Pantano, with the Faggeto tomb, an Etruscan burial chamber from the 2nd century BC, the ruins of the villa and Bisciaro castle, and views of Monte Tezio and Monte Acuto. The source is a guided walk: to go on your own you need a GPS track.

Description on L'Olivo e la Ginestra (Italian)

The pine wood near Castel Rigone

20 min pine wood · kiosk · village

For an unhurried day: a pine wood along the road to Castel Rigone, with a kiosk serving the traditional torta al testo flatbread. A mile before it, at Feriano, is the Bed of Saint Francis, a large boulder where according to tradition the saint stopped to sleep; five minutes further on, the village of Castel Rigone overlooking Lake Trasimeno.

The pine wood on Google Maps · Castel Rigone on Italia.it

Before you set off

Distances, climbs and times come from the source of each walk and are approximate; stops are not included. The minutes in the orange box are the driving time from AlbaUmbra to the start.

Download the track and a map to your phone before leaving: there may be no signal in the woods.
Hiking shoes, water, a jacket and a charged phone; tell someone where you are going.
There are caves and shafts on Monte Acuto: do not go in and keep away from the openings. Look at ruins from outside.
After rain, paths, paving and rocks are slippery.
Respect signs, fences and private property; if a passage looks doubtful, turn back.
Trail conditions and group hikes: CAI Perugia (Italian).

Photo credits

The photos of the walks come from Wikimedia Commons. They have been cropped and resized and remain under the licence shown.