Prato Favale to the Monte Gennaro

The name of Mount Gennaro perhaps comes from Ianus (Giano), the two-faced god venerated by the ancient Romans. This ring itinerary takes you to know the many faces of this pyramidal peak that you can see from any district of Rome.

The difficulty is low and can be tackled with any level of training. The stony ground can be challenging, so I suggest you wear boots with a rigid upper and high ankle so that you always have a firm and decisive step.

When you reach Prato Favale, leave the car at the end of the paved road where path 302B immediately begins, signaled by the red and white CAI flags. Continue on the plain up to a first crossroads, where you take path 303. The route follows an old cattle track inside a thick beech forest and alternates steep sections with long flat sections.

In less than three kilometres, you come out of the woods and the view extends over the large grassy clearing of the meadows of Monte Gennaro. Walk among cows and horses grazing in the wild up to the start of path 305, marked by a clear row of stones. You are back in the woods. The path becomes steeper and in just under two kilometers you reach the summit of Mount Gennaro.

The altitude is low (1270 meters) and yet it seems to be on top of the world. Just like the god Janus, from the summit of Gennaro you can see back and forth. Forward to the Tyrrhenian Sea and the city of Rome; back towards the rocky peaks of the Central Apennines.

Now pay close attention and follow the purple signs of the Luigi Roveda path on the white rocks. You come across many crossroads and tracks left by grazing animals, so orientation can be complicated: I therefore advise you to keep the track open.

From the summit you descend rapidly into a small valley and then continue halfway up the hillside, alternating open and panoramic stretches with wooded and fresh stretches.

On the slopes of Monte Andrea, leave the purple signs on the right and continue inside the ditch up to a small grassy clearing, Prato Falicchio, where you will find the white-red trail signs which, in less than 300 metres, will take you back to the cattle track you used to go.