The Val Martello is also called the “valley of the berries”: this is in fact the highest production area of strawberries in Europe.
The Strawberry Trail is an educational trail through these places, with seven to nine stations, taking the variation, describing production methods and other interesting facts about this delicious fruit. The symbol of the theme trail, the strawberry, points the way. The trail traverses the natural and cultural landscape of this beautiful region, passing by farms and private plots of land that give an insight into the life and work in these wonderful places and that the signs along the way teach you more about. During the tour you can stop at one of the farms that you meet to taste the specialties of the place.
The path starts at the Cultural Center and takes us in a northerly direction, following the provincial road and crossing the hamlet of Salt up to the bridge over the ditch. After the bridge, the path turns to the right, crosses the provincial road and follows the sign with the symbol of the strawberry. Proceed along a slight slope in the direction of the forest until you reach a crossroads, where you continue keeping an eye on the strawberries that grow in large quantities in the cultivated fields on the sides of the road. With slight ups and downs, crossing woods and meadows, finding on its way rocks sprinkled with moss, the path passes through a mixed forest until it reaches the forest road. The very varied itinerary continues on this road, again allowing a beautiful view of the meadows, until the point where you turn right towards Ganda.
Because, during the hike that takes about two hours, you have to overcome only about 170 meters in height, it is a path suitable for children. Slightly more challenging if you proceed to the variant. Then, you go down towards the meadows until you reach the provincial road. Following the same, the path crosses the hamlet of Ganda, reaching the junction with the path that goes down along the Rio Plima. Following the course, proceed downstream, cross the torrent and pass near strawberry fields and a biotope. From here you cross a bridge in the direction of the provincial road, where you turn left to return to the starting point.
Every year at the end of June in the sunny Val Martello and specifically the town of Martello hosts an event that aims to be a celebration of the fruit so abundantly produced here. The festival opens with the cutting of the giant strawberry cake which has been entered in the Guinness Book of Records for its size. The festival is meant to be a thank you to the earth by the farmers for the wonderful fruit they grow.
Trail Type: asphalt, dirt
Water: 1 drinking fountain on the route
