A hike in Zingaro Riserva Naturale

March 20, 2023

Back in 2019, when I first read Scott Anderson’s journal about their second tour in Sicily, I though that if I ever got here (I’d decided Sicily was on my wish list when I read about their first trip), I’d try to include this hike in my itinerary. Today was the day!

Last night, as we dined in a harbour side restaurant, we could see these lines of lights high on the hill above the town. Yes, they illuminate the road we took this morning!

All the seafood restaurants along the harbour front have these boat displays of fresh fish. Hard for me to photograph but you get the idea.

They all also have glass-enclosed “outdoor” eating areas, at least at this time of year. Al had swordfish, a salad, and the plate of fries. Yes, all the food in the photo is his. I had pasta with seafood (tasty but not the best I’ve had) and a tomato salad (which was a bowl of cut-up tomatoes).

Night view taken the following night from a point well above the harbour. You can see the harbour restaurant strip in the lower right, the minor road to SS187, and SS187 to Scopella.

Castellammare del Golfo is a city of staircases. Go8ng back to our B&B after dinner.

It was a steep climb from our B&B to the old road (not quite as steep) connecting this part of town to SS187, happily at highway grades. Even so, the first two kilometres to the mirador were challenging. Then the traffic, which wasn’t too bad compared to yesterday, died away after the 4 km mark as most of it continued to Trapani and we headed for Scopella. The road ends 3 or so km after Scopella, at the south entrance to the Zingaro Riserva Naturale.

View from the mirador at the top of the switchbacks. A good place to rest and enjoy the view!

There’s an info board at the entrance celebrating 40 years of the Riserva 1981-2021). A but if background from that: “…If today our eyes can see the same shapes seen by our ancestors in the Paleolithic era, it is not the result of a fortuitous combination of factors. No, it is because someone has fought to make it possible. Because someone strongly desired that his or her children and grandchildren had the same chances to become and remain humans. This someone was a two thousand of Sicilian citizens, that on 18 May 1980 marched against the construction of a road in the last virgin strip of Sicily, that one connecting Scopello and San Vito Lo Capo, on the north-western coast. They were men, women, and children who answered to the call of organizations such as WWF, Legambiente, Italia Nostra, Arcos, Club alpino siciliano, Forestry Association. It was a sort of civic regeneration, and less than a year later, on 6 May 1981, a Regional Law established the institution of the Zingaro Special Nature Reserve, the first one in Sicily…”

A few photos from the hike. The light wasn’t great and I had only brought my phone, but you get the idea.

Not a good choice if you are subject to vertigo!

The monument to the 1980 march. It’s at the south entrance, near Scopella, and behind as I took this is the limit of the road construction—a short tunnel cut through the rock, wide enough for two lanes of car traffic.

After lunch on a pocket beach, we retraced our steps to our bikes then rode back to town.

We both did a little extra riding because we missed the turn we wanted into town—it was obscured by some roadworks trucks. Al zoomed by and realized he’d gone too far, doubled back to the turn and tried to catch my eye as I zoomed by. I didn’t go far, though, having realized my mistake, but he rode down to me and back up again.

Later, on our way to find a suitable dinner restaurant, we visited a pharmacy to get some more sunscreen. The shop lady was surprised that we wanted sunscreen in March, but in the early evening we were already bundled up so couldn’t show her our burns. Our poor pale northern skin!

We finished the evening with dinner again with the Andersons. Lots of conversation about many topics, admittedly mostly cycling made a great end to our day. We didn’t think to take a commemorative photo.

The ride to Zingaro. We retraced our route to return.

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Today's ride: 25 km (16 miles)
Total: 127 km (79 miles)

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Margie AndersonFantastic photos of wild flowers at this time of year! Beautiful hike, very glad to know the story of this land preservation. M.
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