The Monte Cervialto Loop in the Picentini Mountains

Few people know that much of the water that quenches Campania and Apulia rises here, among the mountains of the Picentini. This regional park straddling the provinces of Avellino and Salerno is a green, damp world of beech woods, springs and plateaus, vast yet almost ignored by tourism. While the Amalfi Coast and the great Campanian destinations overflow with visitors, mountainous Irpinia remains a secluded land, made of silent villages and trails where it is easy not to meet anyone for a whole day.

The loop

The heart of the group is Monte Cervialto, one of the highest peaks of the Campanian Apennines, and the loop that circles it is the best way to get to know this hidden corner. The natural point of reference is the Laceno plateau, near Bagnoli Irpino, a high-altitude basin with its lake and the pistes that in winter become a ski resort, but which in the other seasons revert to pasture and solitary grassland. From here the trails climb through the beech woods to the summit ridge of the Cervialto, from which the eye ranges over a sea of mountains and, on clear days, all the way to the distant gulf.

The landscape

The environment of the Picentini is defined by water. On the slopes rise renowned springs, like those that feed the great aqueducts of the South, and the Laceno plateau harbours sinkholes and karst phenomena, with caves and dolines that tell of the mountain's limestone nature. The beech woods are dense and shady, full of mushrooms in autumn, and on the high-altitude plateaus the pastures still host herds, in a form of pastoralism fragrant with the cheeses and typical products of Irpinia. It is a landscape at once gentle and stern, where the hand of man is limited to the shepherds' paths and the odd refuge.

From a hiking standpoint the Cervialto loop is a mountain route over mostly easy terrain: woodland trails and stretches of grassy crest, with no exposed or technical passages. The effort lies in the elevation gain and the length, so a minimum of fitness is needed, but it is an itinerary within reach of anyone who walks regularly and far more accessible than the severest traverses of the Apennines. You can tackle it in a day by setting off early, or take it more slowly, enjoying stops along the springs and pastures. Waymarking exists but in some stretches can be sparse, and in the beech woods it is easy to lose your bearings, so it pays to move with a map and GPS track and to ask locally about trail conditions.

Getting there

To get there you reach the Laceno area and Bagnoli Irpino from inland Irpinia, by car from the motorway exits toward Avellino and then along the roads climbing to the plateau. Public transport serves the villages but thins out considerably toward the higher elevations, so a car is by far the most practical solution for reaching the trailheads and getting around a territory so large and so poorly served.

When to go

The best season runs from late spring to autumn. May and June bring beech woods of brilliant green, flowering meadows and springs swollen with water, while October sets the woods alight with the colours of the foliage and brings the clearest, freshest air of the year. In these months the Picentini are practically deserted from a hiking point of view: the park's fame is tied above all to water and to skiing at Laceno, and almost no one thinks of walking its ridges. For those seeking solitude and untouched nature, it is a stroke of luck.

A practical tip: in these damp mountains fog often rises from the valley floor, even in summer, and in the dense beech woods visibility drops quickly. Set off early, keep an eye on the sky and don't rely on waymarking alone, but carry a reliable GPS track. Then take advantage of a stop in the villages of Irpinia to taste their products, from the cheeses to the black truffle of Bagnoli: slow travel, here, also passes through the table.

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