Mountain biking in the Madonie: forest roads and touring

Mountain biking in the Madonie mostly means forest roads and Park trails between Piano Battaglia, Portella Colla, Piano Cervi and Piano Zucchi, from about 1,000 metres at Piano Zucchi to 1,865 at Monte Mufara. Wide dirt roads suit beginners and e-bikes; trails with rocks and roots are for experienced riders. For bike touring there is the Ciclovia dei Parchi della Sicilia, whose four stages end right in the Madonie, from Petralia Sottana to Cefalù.

As with hiking, the best seasons are spring and autumn. In winter the plateaus disappear under snow.

At a glance

• Where: the heart of the Park (Piano Battaglia, Piano Cervi, Piano Zucchi, Portella Colla), the Sanguisughe forest tracks near Polizzi Generosa, the cork oak woods between Castelbuono and Pollina.
• Difficulty: from TC and MC dirt roads to BC and OC trails on the CAI scale.
• E-bike hire: listed by the Park authority at Pollina Adventure in Serra Daino; up high, ask before you set off.
• Bike touring: Ciclovia dei Parchi della Sicilia, last two stages in the Madonie, GPX track on italia.it.
• Rules: give way to walkers, close gates, no private land.

Where to ride in the Madonie

For cyclists the Madonie have two sides. Up high, limestone plateaus and beech woods linked by forest roads. Lower down, towards the coast, dirt roads among cork oaks, olive groves and manna ash trees.

Area	Municipalities	Terrain	For whom
Piano Battaglia and Monte Mufara	Petralia Sottana	Gravel roads, single track, rocky ground	Intermediate to expert
Piano Cervi, Valle della Giumenta, Mandria del Conte	Polizzi Generosa, Isnello	Forest roads and trails between plateaus and ponds	Intermediate
Sanguisughe forest tracks	Polizzi Generosa	Dirt roads among pines; the SP119 towards Portella Colla is closed by a landslide	MTB
Piano Sempria and Piano Pomo	Castelbuono	Woodland trails, giant hollies	Depends on the trail
Cork oak woods at Serra Daino and between Geraci Siculo and Castelbuono	Pollina, Castelbuono	Dirt roads among cork oaks and olive groves, ups and downs	Beginners and e-bikes

The Park authority writes that the SP119 and the forest tracks near the Sanguisughe picnic area are very popular with mountain bikers and road cyclists. Since February 2026 the SP119 between Polizzi Generosa and Portella Colla has been closed by a landslide: from Polizzi to Piano Battaglia you go via Petralia Sottana and the SP54, about 35 km. Check the Madonie roads before you set off.

A typical ride: the CAI Madonie Tour

To get an idea of a day out, look at the CAI’s mountain biking programme in Sicily. On 14 and 15 March 2026 CAI Pedara organised a “Madonie Tour”: on Saturday theory and practice at Piano Battaglia, on Sunday a ride from Piano Cervi to the Valle della Giumenta and the Mandria del Conte pond, at Piano Zucchi. It was graded MC/MC, 20 km and 540 metres of climbing.

In 2018 the sports club Piano Battaglia Bike Park used a longer loop for an enduro rally reserved for e-MTBs: about 27 km from Monte Mufara to Portella Arena, down to Piano Trifoglio, up to Monte Cervi, back to the Mandria del Conte pond and back to Piano Battaglia on a narrow, steep trail below Pizzo Carbonara. It gives an idea of what the area offers, from flowing sections to technical ones.

The Park’s MTB trails: the Madonie Mountain Bike Resort project

In 2009 the Park authority launched, with Tri-Ride, the Madonie Mountain Bike Resort project, to equip the Madonie for every mountain bike discipline, from cross country to downhill. On its page, last updated in 2019, the Park authority mentions four trails:

• Sentiero dei Carbonai, very rocky and demanding;
• Sentiero della Manna, for fans of North Shore-style boardwalks;
• Sentiero Rasula, for downhill;
• Sentiero dei Giganti, through beech and downy oak woods to the hollies of Piano Pomo.

We found no recent news on the state of these trails, nor up-to-date official maps. Before looking for them, ask local riders or the Punto Qui Parco in the village you start from. The Sentiero dei Giganti crosses the same wood as our page on the Castelbuono wood and the giant hollies.

How hard are the routes: the CAI MTB scale

The CAI grades mountain bike routes with two codes, one for the climb and one for the descent, separated by a slash (for example MC/BC). Physical effort is given separately, as elevation gain and kilometres.

Grade	Surface	Example
TC	Compact, smooth dirt roads, passable by car	Many forest roads on the plateaus
MC	Slightly rough dirt roads or compact trails	The Piano Cervi-Giumenta-Mandria del Conte ride
BC	Rough mule tracks and trails, with roots or rock steps	Woodland trails with roots and stones
OC	Very rough surface, frequent obstacles	Rocky sections like those the Park authority describes on the Sentiero dei Carbonai
EC	Continuous steps and obstacles, trials technique	Only for top-level riders

The Park authority recommends the hardest routes only for trained cyclists, and the easy and intermediate ones also for people new to mountain biking.

E-bikes and hire

With an e-bike the climbs to the plateaus come within reach of many riders, and the height differences of the Madonie (from Castelbuono, at about 400 metres, you climb above 1,500) hurt less.

• Pollina Adventure, Serra Daino (Pollina): according to the Park authority’s page updated in October 2026, it offers mountain bike and e-bike hire and support, as well as woodland trails. It is at about 500 metres, above Finale di Pollina.
• Piano Battaglia: in 2018 e-MTBs could be hired on site. Management of the lifts has changed and summer opening times are not published today: ask first.

Before hiring, ask about battery range, whether a helmet is included, a repair kit and whether the suggested route has charging points.

Bike touring: the Ciclovia dei Parchi della Sicilia and the Targa circuit

The Ciclovia dei Parchi della Sicilia is a 270 km coast-to-coast route in four stages, linking Alcantara, Etna, Nebrodi and Madonie. It is designed for four days, with medium difficulty, and the GPX track can be downloaded from the national tourism portal italia.it.

Stage	Route	In the Madonie
1	Giardini Naxos-Randazzo, 60 km	no
2	Randazzo-Cerami, 60 km	no
3	Cerami-Petralia Sottana	arrival in Petralia Sottana
4	Petralia Sottana-Cefalù, about 60 km	Castellana Sicula, Polizzi Generosa, Collesano, Isnello, Castelbuono, Cefalù

The fourth stage sums up the Madonie by bike: in Collesano you pass the Targa Florio Museum, in Isnello below the astronomy park, in Castelbuono below the Ventimiglia castle. If you like tarmac roads, the history of the race and its circuit are in the guide to the Targa Florio.

Park rules and safety on the bike

The Park has not published rules just for bikes, but the Park authority gives cyclists clear advice:

• always give way to walkers;
• be very careful on steep descents;
• close pasture gates and gaps;
• carry the bike on rough sections.

And bring a bike-carrying strap, a spare inner tube, a repair kit and a pump: the Madonie have few villages up high and no services along the forest roads. The general Park rules also apply: no private land, no fires, respect for wildlife and grazing livestock.

In summer carry water for the whole ride, because outside villages and picnic areas there are no fountains. In winter check the Madonie roads and the mountain forecast for Piano Battaglia: with snow and ice on the plateaus you don’t ride.

Where to stay and what to combine

For a cycling weekend choose a base up high or in a village on the Ciclovia: Petralia Sottana, Polizzi Generosa or Castelbuono. Mountain huts, farm stays and B&Bs are under where to stay in the Madonie, and for a two-day plan there is the weekend in the Madonie.

If one day you want to leave the bike behind, the same forest roads can be done on foot with hiking or in the saddle on the bridle paths.