The Montemurlo loop - Cavallaie – Javello

The itinerary offers a great variety of environments and landscapes, forests, hilly agricultural areas, and very peculiar geological and vegetation formations. The immediately recognizable feature is the profile of the three peaks of the Monteferrato, from which the prized serpentine or green marble of Prato was obtained. Further north, toward the border with the nearby Acquerino-Cantagallo Reserve, the landscape becomes typically forestry and typical of the Appennines, with broadleaf forests and splendid beech groves. Finally, an agricultural landscape of great value characterizes the westernmost sector of the area, as far as the border with Pistoia, marked by traditional agricultural arrangements and a typical villa-farm settlement system, with artifacts of considerable interest, such as tower-houses, farm-villas, the Rocca and the village of Montemurlo.

The climb starts immediately from the village of Bagnolo with a constant gradient between 7-9% up to Guzzano, flanking the Villa del Barone. The partly unpaved road then joins the Schignano Hill, where we return onto tarmac again. Continuing north, there is a steep climb on the left, also paved. From here to the summit of mount Javello the slopes are harder. After the chestnut grove of Vallupaia, with its ever-fresh spring, the dirt road begins and remains the same along the whole path.

Arriving at the Faggi di Javello, the path begins to decline with a winding and uneven path to the Cavallaie pass, where the left-hand turn towards Montemurlo will take us back to the valley after a long, non-technical and very scenic descent.

The start of the itinerary is located on the Ciclovia del Sole, as it meets the Cammino di San Jacopo in Tuscany at Villa del Barone.