Elba Ovest Bike Land - San Giovanni Parish church

Departure / Arrival: Sant'Ilario
Technical Difficulty: medium
Total Distance: 5993 m
Maximum Altitude: 411 m
Minimum Altitude: 201 m
Total Elevation Gain: 229 m
Total Descent: -229 m

This route is named after the Pieve di San Giovanni, which is encountered near the beginning of the trail.

The route starts from the village of Sant'Ilario, where you follow the paved road toward San Piero. After about 1 km, when the road begins to climb, turn toward Monte Perone and continue uphill for 2 km at a steady pace until you reach the Pieve di San Giovanni.

Upon reaching the large church, take the path on the left surrounded by a chestnut forest. The first part of the trail is a gentle descent on a dirt path, with occasional technical sections through granite rocks. After passing the chestnut forest, you walk beside a pine forest until you reach a junction, where you should continue straight.

From this point, the surrounding vegetation begins to change, becoming low with a strong presence of ferns at the start. As you move forward along the path, you will come across a small stream to cross, passing between two granite rocks.

The view that opens up before you is breathtaking: it stretches across part of the southern coast of Elba, with the sports field and the village of San Piero in the foreground. In the background, the view extends over the wonderful Marina di Campo gulf, the airport, and the promontory of Capo Fonza up to Monte Calamita.

The path starts descending along an old road with a surface of granite flakes, once used to reach the ancient quarries.

Above the granite quarry called Cavone, turn left onto a path that remains very panoramic and continues down a short but slightly steeper descent.

Continue past a goat farm until you reach the road leading to San Piero. Once you reach the village, you can continue on the paved road until you return to Sant'Ilario.