Autumn in Sicily on the paths of foliage
You know that moment in autumn when the leaves begin to turn color. Of the hottest shades of yellow, copper orange and flaming red before falling? That moment of extraordinary landscape beauty, fleeting but intense, like moments of happiness, when nature is at its best before stopping to rest? There, that’s foliage, and Sicily surprisingly turns out to be one of the most striking places to admire it. Hikers and amateur photographers warm up the rolls!
From the Madonie Mountains to Etna, nature that enchants
Sunlight filters softly through the foliage, almost melancholy. A crisp air of frost, fragrant with moss and scents of the underbrush envelops us. A distant aroma of roasted chestnuts accompanies our wanderings at a leisurely pace, on paths hidden by light blankets of leaves. All around, nature paints an iridescent landscape: the intense greens of summer darken and give way to yellow and brown, and then ochre, rust, and burgundy. We stroll under the dance of the first falling leaves that, like butterflies, leave the trees and twirl, slow. No, it is not a scene from Autumn in New York and this is not Central Park. Nor are we among the mountains of Vermont, the forests of Japan, or the beech forests of northern Europe. We are in the Madonie Park, in Sicily.
Between October and November, foliage in the Madonie Mountains paints a picture of art: the rare Nebrodi fir trees, holm oaks, downy oaks, and beech trees are tinged with wonderful autumn hues, to be immortalized or observed with the lens of the heart. For those who prefer to get lost among the small villages, the foliage offers a traveling show on the Pollina-San Mauro Castelverde route and then down to Geraci Siculo and Gangi, passing through Petralia Soprana and Petralia Sottana. To trekkers, this vast protected area of 162 km² south of Palermo opens up breathtaking itineraries. The less experienced will depart from Piano Battaglia toward Pizzo Carbonara and Monte Mufara, home to one of the most beautiful and accessible beech forests in Sicily. The more navigated will proceed to Bosco Pomieri, perhaps leaving the car at the Sicilian Alpine Club before wandering among magnificent century-old oaks and imposing holly trees, the largest in Europe, 5 meters in diameter by 20 meters in height and a 500-year history.
On the Nebrodi Mountains among high-altitude lakes
On the Nebrodi ridge the landscape in autumn lights up and the vegetation reflects its warm colors in mountainous stretches of water. At Portella Femmina Morta, immersed in a pristine fairy-tale forest, among flocks and herds of black Nebrodi pigs, a dirt road leads us to Maulazzo Lake. We are at 1,400 meters above sea level, and among centuries-old specimens and a few streams that are easy to ford, we arrive at Biviere, an immense lake suspended between two beech forests, where everything is golden in color and the silence is almost unreal.
From Portella dell’Obolo toward the Tassita forest, a path also suitable for children begins, which, thanks to the long ring of stones placed to indicate the path, they can follow like Tom Thumb. In autumn, magnificent yew trees are covered in scarlet berries, maples wear their best red, and dormice and jays peep out before hibernation. To the east, the beech trees light up the slopes of the Peloritani Mountains with their deep yellow, and the autumn trek is shrouded in mystery among the oaks of the Malabotto Reserve and the legends of the Argimusco.
If you crave remote corners, an incredibly evocative place is Mount Sambughetti-Campanito, where poplars, oaks and beech trees alternate with a myriad of small lakes and ponds, home to the Sicilian bog turtle.
Flames of color on Mount Etna
Autumn in Sicily is a season to be discovered. Between October and November, the island takes on a new, unusual face, far from the traditional tourist imagery, and the Etna offers one of the most beautiful foliage routes in Italy. We are in the Sant’Alfio area, where the leaves of the endemic birch tree prop up the old lava flows on the eastern slope with gold. And then flaming tongues and saffron-yellow brush strokes among the Ragabo, Piano Provenzana, and Timparossa forests to the north, and Piano del Vescovo and dell’Ilice to the east, to the slopes, where the Hundred Horses Chestnut, the oldest and largest tree in the world, a Unesco monument of peace, holds old legends in its coppery foliage.
The lost sense of time
In Sicily, the sea in autumn is so warm that it still allows the last dips. We wanted to lead you along new paths, among unsuspected color magics, where the air is tinged with gold and old, among woods and glades, to become witnesses of a small miracle that nature offers us, tirelessly, which we should fully enjoy. Momijigari they call it in Japan, hunting for red leaves, the art of seeking out the best time and places to witness nature’s change. A philosophy, an ancient ritual, an intimate time, because traveling is sometimes about slowing down and taking time to observe.
by Stefania Capassi