Maps, GPX tracks and apps for the Madonie

To find your way in the Madonie you need three things: the ability to read the white-red CAI waymarks, a digital map downloaded to your phone (apps based on OpenStreetMap, such as OsmAnd or Organic Maps, work offline) and, for long routes, the trail’s GPX track. The Ente Parco has published a 1:50,000 trail map, useful for the big picture. In the mountains mobile signal is not guaranteed: prepare everything at home.

At a glance

• Waymarking: white-red CAI marks, trails with three-digit numbers (for example 551 for Pizzo Carbonara).
• Paper map: Carta dei Sentieri e del Paesaggio - Madonie, 1:50,000, Ente Parco (sixth edition, 2012).
• Offline apps: OsmAnd, Organic Maps (OpenStreetMap data).
• Checked GPX tracks: on Sentieri Siciliani, linked from our trail pages.
• Safety: GeoResQ to alert Mountain Rescue.
• On our site: the Madonie map with towns and trailheads.

How do you read the waymarks on the Madonie trails?

Trails marked by the CAI follow the rules in the Italian Alpine Club’s handbook on signage:

• paint marks: white-red or red-white-red bands of paint on stones, trees and walls. They confirm that you are on the right path. The red-white-red ones may carry the trail number.
• arrow signs: at the start of the trail and at junctions, with the destination and an indicative walking time for an average hiker.
• place signs: the name and altitude of the spot where you are.

CAI trails have a three-digit number: the first digit is the sector, the other two the trail. On OpenStreetMap, for example, the Pizzo Carbonara loop is marked as trail 551, maintained by the Petralia Sottana CAI section.

Not all trails are marked the same way, and paint fades. At forest track junctions, if you cannot see any marks, check your position on the map before going on. Difficulty grades (T, E, EE) are explained in our article on the CAI scale.

Which trail map should you use?

The Ente Parco map

The Ente Parco delle Madonie has published the Carta dei Sentieri e del Paesaggio - Madonie at 1:50,000. The Parks.it catalogue of park publications lists the sixth edition, from 2012, at 3 euros.

It is a good overview map for understanding where the peaks, plateaus, roads and towns are. For trail detail, and for routes changed after 2012, use it together with a digital map. Ask where to find it at the Park information points or at the Ente Parco in Petralia Sottana.

OpenStreetMap

OpenStreetMap is the free map made by volunteers. In the Madonie it shows many numbered CAI trails, forest tracks, springs, huts and picnic areas. Many hiking apps use it, and so does our site for distances and the map.

If you find a mistake, anyone can fix it by registering on openstreetmap.org.

Which apps should you use?

This table compares the most useful apps in the Madonie, based on what their official websites state.

App	What it does	Offline	Cost
OsmAnd	OpenStreetMap map, position, routes	yes, downloadable maps	free version
Organic Maps	OpenStreetMap map for hiking and driving	yes, all features	free, no ads
GeoResQ	alert to Mountain Rescue with position and route	needs a network to send the alert	free

How to use them:

1. At home: download the map of the area (province of Palermo or Sicily) and the trail track.
2. At the start: check that the GPS has found your position and turn on power saving.
3. On the trail: look at the map at junctions, not only when you are lost.
4. Battery: carry a spare. In winter keep the phone warm, close to your body.

Tracks for the trails on our pages

This table sums up the Madonie trails we have published, with their CAI grade and where to find the track. The data come from our trail pages, which link the sources.

Trail	CAI grade	Track
Pizzo Carbonara from Piano Battaglia	E	Sentieri Siciliani, trail 551 on OpenStreetMap
Monte Quacella	EE	OpenStreetMap
Rocca di Cefalù	T	Sentieri Siciliani
Castelbuono woods	E	OpenStreetMap
Gole di Tiberio	E	Sentieri Siciliani, OpenStreetMap
Monte San Salvatore	E	OpenStreetMap
Vallone Madonna degli Angeli and the Abies nebrodensis	E	OpenStreetMap
Sentiero Italia, Piano Battaglia-Petralia Sottana	E	Sentieri Siciliani, CAI Sentiero Italia

All the routes, with their starting points, are in the Trails section.

How to prepare a hike with the map

Before a new trail, at home, follow these steps:

1. Read the trail page: start, grade, indicative time, water points (often none).
2. Download the track from the linked source and open it in your app: check that it starts from the right car park.
3. Look at the route on the map: where the junctions are, where the track leaves the forest road, where there are open stretches exposed to sun and fog.
4. Pick a turnaround time: the time by which you head back anyway, even if you have not reached the top.
5. Check the weather and warnings: mountain forecast, Civil Protection alerts, Park notices.
6. Leave your plan with someone: trail, where the car is parked, return time.

On the trail, compare your position with the track often, especially at forest track junctions and where the white-red marks thin out. If you lose the track, go back to the last safe point rather than cutting across slopes.

Where can you find GPX tracks?

• Sentieri Siciliani publishes downloadable GPX tracks with access points and height gain calculated from open data, along with trail conditions. Our trail pages link it in the “Track and technical details” box, for example the Pizzo Carbonara page.
• Sentiero Italia CAI: the stages that cross the Madonie, such as the one from Piano Battaglia to Petralia Sottana, have pages and tracks on the official CAI website.
• Komoot, Wikiloc and similar: useful for discovering routes, but the tracks are user-made and not verified. Always check them against the map.

Our pages do not offer GPX downloads: we prefer to send you to the source that checks and updates them.

What to do when there is no signal

In the Madonie, as in all mountains, phone signal can be missing in valleys and woods.

• GPS works without a network: if you have downloaded the map, you can see where you are.
• To call 112, move to higher or more open ground.
• Leave your route and return time with someone who stays behind.
• Before you set off, note the trail name and landmarks: in a rescue they help the operator.

How to call for help is explained in our guide to safety in the Madonie.

Maps for non-hikers

• Roads: closures and landslides on the page about Madonie roads; for live traffic, the iCCISS app or 1518.
• Weather: forecasts for the towns and high places on the weather page.
• Towns, trails and places to stay: our Madonie map.

The Park zones and what you can do in each are in our guide to the Madonie Park rules.