Monte Arbu

Established in 1998, the Gennargentu National Park is the youngest of Italy's 24 nature reserves. It is characterized by a high diversity of trees, flowers, berries and shrubs. The oldest holm oaks in Europe are found here. Unlike most other national parks, the Gennargentu covers both alpine and Mediterranean zones.

The alpine zone is particularly interesting for us off-roaders, where numerous exciting gravel roads lead into the deep wilderness. For example, the one to Monte Arbu. Together with its surrounding family of peaks, it rises to a height of 1,589 meters west of state road 389. Just below, at 1,540 meters, an approximately eleven-kilometer-long off-road route ends, which is generally decent to drive, but has some places with coarse scree on the final stretch.

The entrance is in no man's land around 15 kilometers north of the town of Villanova Strisaili. The trail climbs relatively evenly for the first few kilometers, and the gravel surface poses no problems. After about half of the route, the surface becomes rougher and requires concentration and a good eye for detail. The final spurt is a bit bumpy, and then we find ourselves at a beautiful place to take a break or spend the night with a great view of the surrounding mountains and down into the valley.