Trail Inspections

Today I went on a trail inspection along the Path of the Gods. Due to time constraints I had to squeeze the inspection into one day. Left Rome from Termini at 6:26. The train was 25 minutes late, so delayed arrival in Naples. Bus to Bomerano. I prefered to walk to the bus station to avoid the morning rush hour on the subway, and still had time for a coffee and a cannolo. Stopped by at my two favorite vendors, an old lady selling panini with cheese produced in-house and a lemon juice shop along the way. Turbo hike that took me a bit over 2 hours. I was shocked at how good the trail was. They added guard rails next to most of the exposed area. Unfortunately a bit of the "wilderness feel" is lost now, but it's definitely much safer. Returned via bus from Positano to Sorrento. The bus was already full on a Thursday in March, so I expect this to be pretty packed on the weekend. Took about an hour. Then circumvesuviana train back to Naples (about 1.5 hours), and returned with a Frecciarossa train. I saw plenty of Italian Wall Lizards, what looked like an Aesculapian Snake (or maybe a Green Whip Snake, it was too fast!), plenty of goats and mules.

Current Conditions

Bus to Bomerano: Smooth bus ride. As usually it's an adventure in and of itself to be on a bus with the small, windy, narrow streets next to the cliffs at a high pace.

Trail 327: The trail has been completely redone, and is now super accessible compared to before, and much safer. There are very few exposed areas left without a guard rail, and the trail is wide enough when there is none. There is still lots of up- and downhill, and good fitness is still required.

Montepertuso to Positano: Walking down all the steps at the end of the hike, when the legs are already tired, is not to be understimated. But no major problems.

Recommendations

• I don't recommend doing this on the same day. I only did this due to constraints in my calendar, but one needs to take time on the path of the gods
• This is a proper mountain hike. That means hiking boots and clothes, plenty of water supply, protection from sun

I inspected river bank ahead of our organised urban hike due to reports that after the recent flood it was partially inaccessible. On the day of the inspection I found two segments with wet mud that forced me to temporarily exit the trail via the steps leading back up to surface level. While the entire segment was heavily impacted by the flood (plastic hanging everywhere in the shrubs and trees, some city employees were cleaning the bank as I was there, dislocated shrubs/trees, water levels where still quiet high), most of the trail was accessible and the trail provided enough naturalistic and historic highlights. Water levels were at a safe level. Saw some herons, cormorants, nutria, a moorhen.

Current Conditions

Access road: Via Porta Portese – coming from Metro B – Piramide. Everything is free. Some vehicles from the municipality were doing cleanup work. Cyclists and runners present.

Porta Portese – Ponte Sisto: Trail completely clean until shortly before and after Ponte Sisto. Cleanup works were ongoing and that part was closed off to the public. However, the day after (March 7, 2026) the segment was free, clean and accessible.

Ponte Sisto – Ponte Vittorio Emanuele: Trail clear, I had to exit the trail before Castel S. Angelo due to the presence of deep, and partially wet mud. In fact, some social media posts are making their rounds, showing cyclists and other people getting stuck in that spot, which is also filled with abandoned bicycles / scooters. I re-entered the tiber bank right from the steps next to the "Ponte Sant'Angelo"

Ponte Sant'Angelo – Ponte Matteotti: Trail clear.

Matteotti – Ponte del Risorgimento: Deep mud still present.

Recommendations

• Bring binoculars
• With current muddy patches, comfortable midcut hiking boots can be useful

I inspected river bank ahead of our organised urban hike due to reports that after the recent flood it was partially inaccessible. On the day of the inspection I found two segments with wet mud that forced me to temporarily exit the trail via the steps leading back up to surface level. While the entire segment was heavily impacted by the flood (plastic hanging everywhere in the shrubs and trees, some city employees were cleaning the bank as I was there, dislocated shrubs/trees, water levels where still quiet high), most of the trail was accessible and the trail provided enough naturalistic and historic highlights. Water levels were at a safe level. Saw some herons, cormorants, nutria, a moorhen.

Current Conditions

Access road: Via Porta Portese – coming from Metro B – Piramide. Everything is free. Some vehicles from the municipality were doing cleanup work. Cyclists and runners present.

Porta Portese – Ponte Sisto: Trail completely clean until shortly before and after Ponte Sisto. Cleanup works were ongoing and that part was closed off to the public. However, the day after (March 7, 2026) the segment was free, clean and accessible.

Ponte Sisto – Ponte Vittorio Emanuele: Trail clear, I had to exit the trail before Castel S. Angelo due to the presence of deep, and partially wet mud. In fact, some social media posts are making their rounds, showing cyclists and other people getting stuck in that spot, which is also filled with abandoned bicycles / scooters. I re-entered the tiber bank right from the steps next to the "Ponte Sant'Angelo"

Ponte Sant'Angelo – Ponte Matteotti: Trail clear.

Matteotti – Ponte del Risorgimento: Deep mud still present.

Recommendations

• Bring binoculars
• With current muddy patches, comfortable midcut hiking boots can be useful

A quick trail inspection after our snowshoe season, focusing now on lower mountains and gradually working our way up to higher altitudes until summer. Saw a wolf (just for 2 seconds before it disappeared into the forest), the usual herds of maremmana cows and free-roaming horses, a huge toad. No human encounters except for the last kilometer on the way back, where two girls were sitting near the former "elephant tree (a centuries old beech tree, which sadly collapsed last year)", and two young men walking up the trail. Very quick inspection, it took me about 30 minutes to the Pratone, I was up at Mt. Gennaro after about 1.5 hours. I started around 12.20 and was done around 3.45pm.

Current Conditions

Access road: No major problems, the lane up the mountain is better than the other lane returning, which appears to have more potholes and seems to be breaking apart faster; but besides the odd loose rock on the ground, no problems. Dry. Accessible.

Trail 302B: Mainly dry. Some mud present, but almost all dry. Rocky as always.

Trail 303: The beech forest was very pleasant. Some grazing maremmana cows roaming around, but none blocked the trails this time. Some wet and more slippery spots (roots, limestone), but all doable for regular hikers with good soles.

Trail 305: Pratone is now looking like spring, the highland is full of Crocus (and not only), also full of horses and maremmana cattle. No major problems or noteworthy obstacles on the way to the summit of Mt. Gennaro at 1271m.

Trail 301: Rocky return until entering the forest trail. Lovely view facing west near the "Scalarola". Trail 301A has some very muddy spots, partially deep and slippery, but it's easy to navigate around.

Recommendations

• Wear waterproof hiking boots
• Bring enough water and sun protection, even now it gets very hot on a sunny day
• Radio and satellite communicator can be very useful. Also compass and map. I always refer to the entire Lucretili park as "Rome's Bermuda Triangle", as every now and then someone tends to get lost here. Don't be one of them!