The ring of Piano delle Ginestre

The evocative ring path of Piano delle Ginestre allows you to discover the beauty of the west side with a smooth path for everyone.

From Piano dei Grilli you turn to Piano delle Ginestre, a wooded area characterized by the presence of the endemic plant “Broom of Etna”. Some of them are majestic centuries-old trees. Then you skirt the numerous volcanic cones that characterize the area, immersed in a dense forest of oaks, which is very flourishing and full of green mosses; sometimes you may forget that you are on a vocanic area. Crossing some recent lavas that offer spectacular landscapes on the volcanic cones of 1763 and 1974, you descend towards Monte Minardo and, from here, back to the plane of the crickets. Along the way are characteristic the many agropastoral shelters, called in Sicilian dialect “paggiari”, built both in stone and straw through ancient tradition techniques. There are also numerous refuges and lava flow caves that can be visited along the path, among which we mention the snow cave (Grotta della neve), an ancient snowhouse, and the Monte Minardo cave.