21. Montemelino - Monte Penna - Montesperello

The starting point for our itinerary is the square in front of the church of Montemelino. Retracing our steps a little, we take an unpaved road heading uphill, entering the scrub composed mainly of holm oaks, arbutuses, Spanish broom, junipers, heather, laurustinus and rockroses. This rocky climb leads towards Monte Penna. At the top, we come to a ridge trail and turn left, heading towards the shrine with a crucifix that is visible just above us. When we come to the cross, we can take a short break to enjoy the views of Perugia and Lake Trasimeno.

We continue straight along the ridge road towards the summit of Monte Castiglionaccio, entering low scrub consisting mainly of arbutuses, rockroses, downy oaks and heather. We turn left and take a road downhill along the eastern slope of Monte Castiglionaccio (523 m). This particularly scenic track offers stunning views of Val Lupina, the Mugnano valley, Agello, Montali and the woods of Marzolana. Following the signs, we continue around the mountain and head towards the lake, which we can glimpse through the vegetation. We cross different stretches of woods, in which we chiefly find butcher’s broom, followed by arbutuses and turkey oaks. Descending steeply, we come to a few houses at the edge of the woods. From here, we take the track that, on the right, skirts the hillside and then come to an observation point, from which we can see the village of San Savino and Lake Trasimeno.

Continuing on the right, we take a very rough and narrow road – which is quite rocky at certain points – that climbs steeply up the hill to bring us to Podere Penna and then to the top of Monte Penna (496 m). We continue on a track along the crest and again come to the shrine with the cross; from here we can return to our starting point. The other option is to go straight along a ridge trail that descends to the fork leading to the water reservoirs and on to Montesperello, which is worth a short stop. We then take the paved road heading downhill, walking for about 400 metres. We head right along an unpaved road that is distinguished by mixed woods on the uphill side, whereas olive groves and cultivated areas can be seen downhill. We continue through the woods to Montemelino, the starting point for our trek, which is 13.520 km long.