Trail 561, from Portella Colla to Piano Cervi

Trail 561 starts at Portella Colla, at the junction of the SP54 and SP119 near Piano Battaglia, and climbs through beech woods and pastures to Piano Cervi, a basin at about 1,530 metres with a small lake. It then continues to Case Disiceddi. The full track is about 10 km and takes about 3 hours of walking without stops. Go between May and October.

For a half-day outing, stop at Piano Cervi and turn back.

Why go to Piano Cervi

For one of the most alpine-looking landscapes in the Madonie. The Cefalù Madonie tourist district describes Piano Cervi as a wide river and karst basin: a small lake in the middle, pasture all around, a dense beech wood to the north-west.

And because in a few hours you see the history of the forest and the shepherds: charcoal kilns, a traditional hay hut and, beyond the basin, the màrcati where provola cheese is still made.

What you see along the way

At first the track runs beside a stream that cuts deep into the ground. The district points out an outcrop of Numidian Flysch here, with thin layers of dark clay and bands rich in tiny fossils, best seen with a magnifying glass.

In spring, a little further on, there is a patch of basilisco, a yellow herbaceous plant. On its dead roots grows the basilisco mushroom, one of the flavours of Madonie cooking: this is zone A of the Park and picking it is forbidden.

Past the gate of the state forest you enter the beech wood of Cozzo Piombino. On its slopes there is a planting of Abies nebrodensis made by the regional forestry agency in the late 1970s, one of the first attempts to save the Madonie fir. The natural population, the district recalls, has just 30 adult trees.

At the top of the climb Piano Cervi opens up. Beyond the basin the trail goes back into the woods, passes some charcoal kilns and reaches the Club Alpino Siciliano refuge, next to which the forestry agency has rebuilt a hay hut using the traditional technique.

Beyond Piano Cervi

If you want to continue, you can go down the Valle della Giumenta to the Mandria Nipitalva, a màrcato where shepherds still take their flocks to summer pasture and make Madonie provola. From here, the district writes, the view stretches from the holm oak wood below Pizzo Carbonara to the Gulf of Termini Imerese.

Mind the golden eagle. The stretch of the Sentiero Italia that enters the Vallone Nipitalva from Casa di Mastro Peppino is closed from May to October to protect the nests. In that period you follow variant 566b towards Piano Zucchi, where the Rifugio Luigi Orestano stands, closed since 2008: do not count on it for a stop or a bed.

Who it is for and when to go

The 561 suits people who walk regularly: wide tracks, steady climb, no exposed passages. As far as Piano Cervi it also suits families.

May to October. Spring for basilisco and a full lake, autumn for the colours. Check the weather at Portella Colla before you go, and in autumn the Park news on wildlife control zones.

How to get to Portella Colla

From Piano Battaglia follow the SP54 to the junction with the SP119: you are at Portella Colla. The SP119 from Polizzi Generosa was closed in February 2026 after a landslide near this junction: check Madonie roads.

The full track ends far from the start. If you have no car at the finish, turn back at Piano Cervi.

Where to sleep and eat

Near the start there is the Rifugio Giuliano Marini, at Piano Battaglia. On the Piano Zucchi side the Rifugio Luigi Orestano has been closed since 2008, as our article on Piano Battaglia in winter explains. The nearest villages are Polizzi Generosa and Isnello: where to stay in Polizzi Generosa, where to stay in Isnello, where to eat in Isnello.

Tips

• Bring water from home: do not count on finding any along the track.
• On the open pastures, in fog, follow the track on your phone.
• Do not touch the basilisco and do not pick mushrooms: in zone A it is forbidden.
• Close any pasture gates you open.

For track, profile and waymarks of the 561 there is the technical page on sentierisiciliani.it, in the box alongside. On the SP119, a few kilometres below Portella Colla, the Abies nebrodensis trail also starts.