The Asinara trails

The Asinara
trails

The Asinara Island

Asinara has a long, narrow shape. Stretching across it from north to south is a 25-km concrete road, along which you can discover the main habitats of the island, observe its most characteristic species, as well as the main settlements: Fornelli, Campu Perdu, Cala Reale, Trabuccato and Cala d’Oliva.The main road is connected to dirt roads leading to minor settlements such as Santa Maria, Tumbarino, Elighe Mannu and Punta dello Scorno. These dirt roads or mule tracks are the starting point for a large number of footpaths, which were used in the past by shepherds, but are now invaluable hiking trails to discover the wildest and most uncontaminated areas of the island.
The area of Fornelli can be reached by road or by sea. Here, you will find the former maximum security prison: a quadrangular unit of about 8,000 square metres built at the end of the 19th century.As you may notice from the half-destroyed sentry boxes and the external lighting, the prison was under constant surveillance.Of particular interest are the gardens created by the inmates. Today, the prison is out of bounds for safety reasons. A few smaller buildings are present to the north of the prison: they were mostly officers’ lodgings and a fountain with drinking troughs dating back to 1896. To the east of the prison, a dirt road leads to the settlement of Santa Maria, a double prison branch with an agricultural and farming purpose built at the beginning of the twentieth century and enlarged in 1950.The settlement is made up of a 2000-square-metre prison, two silos and stables. Outside, you can still see the former agricultural machinery. The visitor centre of Fornelli, located on the waterfront right near the jetty, is the starting point for thematic footpaths – most of which can be cycled.

The Granite trail

Trailhead: Fornelli
Arrival: Fornelli
Length: 11,4 km
Duration: 3 hours 30 minutes
Elevation gain: 75 m
Loop trail
The trail is mostly suitable for cycling.
Start from the visitor centre of Fornelli.

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The Castellaccio trail

Trailhead: Fornelli
Arrival: Fornelli
Length: 11,4 km
Duration: 3 hours 30 minutes
Elevation gain: 75 m
Loop trail
The trail is mostly suitable for cycling.
Start from the jetty of Fornelli on the northbound road.

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The Water trail

Trailhead: Fornelli
Arrival: Fornelli
Lunghezza: 6,9&nbspkm
Tempo di percorrenza: 2&nbsph
Dislivello massimo: 42&nbspm
Loop trail
The trail is suitable for cycling
Start from the visitor centre of Fornelli.

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This area of Asinara used to provide health facilities for the crews of ships affected by infectious diseases. Upon landing, you can identify the organisational structure of Cala Reale, as well as the symmetry of the royal palace (palazzo reale), which nowadays houses the offices of the National Park and of the Ministry of the Environment.From further away, however, it is more difficult to grasp the coherence of the settlement, even if most buildings are along the main road. These Piedmont architecture buildings date back to the end of the 19th century.East of the royal palace are the large buildings of the maritime health centre and the disinfection centre. The latter is certainly striking and extends all the way to the coast, where it is connected with a small independent pier.West of the royal palace, the buildings grow fewer and smaller, and the long, rectangular layout is replaced by more complex ones. The most noteworthy are the church and its bell tower, the recently restored Austro-Hungarian chapel, and the former hospital – now Park House (Casa del Parco), whose portico is supported by late Liberty style cast-iron pillars.

The Mouflon trail

Trailhead: Tumbarino
Arrival: Tumbarino
Length: 5,6 km
Duration: 2 hours
Elevation gain: 95 m
Loop trail
The trail is not suitable for cycling
Start from the wildlife observation centre of Tumbarino .

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The Memory trail

Trailhead: Cala Reale
Arrival: Cala Reale
Length: 6,4 km
Duration: 2 hours
Elevation gain: 28 m
Loop trail
The trail is suitable for cycling
Start from the visitor centre and follow the signs.

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The White donkey trail

Trailhead: Cala Reale
Arrival: Cala Reale
Lunghezza: 800 m
Duration: 40 minutes
Elevation gain: insignificant
loop trail
The trail is not suitable for cycling
Start: from the visitor centre of Cala Reale.

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The Nature trail

Trailhead: Cala Reale
Arrival: Cala Reale
Lunghezza: 800 m
Duration: 40 minutes
Elevation gain: insignificant
loop trail
The trail is not suitable for cycling
Start: from the visitor centre of Cala Reale.

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As you arrive from Trabuccato, be it by sea or by land, the village of Cala d’Oliva appears almost abruptly, as a small white seaside village. The lower, older area is made up of small buildings, whereas the higher area, which used to be the prison centre, features larger, virtually off-the-scale constructions, such as the management offices, the officers’ barracks, the incarceration facilities of the Bunker and the Central Branch (Diramazione centrale).The houses in Cala d’Oliva stand on narrow streets paved in stone, recalling some coastal Ligurian villages. On either side of the main street, two rows of buildings lead to the belvedere square with the church. They are mostly for residential use, although there used to be an infirmary, a café, a farming outhouse, a pizzeria, and even an old cinema.Several lanes go from the centre of the village to the small harbour, the new guest house (also headquarters of the State Forestry Corps) up to the Central Branch, the largest prison on the island – now the park’s Environmental Education Centre.

The Holm oak trail

Trailhead: Cala d'Oliva
Arrival: Cala d'Oliva
Length: 14 km
Duration: 3 hours 30 minutes
Elevation gain: 391 m
Loop trail, with a short out-and-back path to Punta Scomunica
The trail is not suitable for cycling
Start from the hostel of Cala d'Oliva

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The Lighthouse trail

Partenza: Cala d'Oliva
Arrivo: Cala d'Oliva
Lunghezza: 15,6  km
Tempo di percorrenza: 5 h 30'
Dislivello massimo: 113 m
Out-and-back trail 
Ciclabilità: non ciclabile
Accesso: dall'abitato di Cala d'Oliva

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The Cala Sabina
trail

Trailhead: Cala d'Oliva
Arrival: Cala Sabina
Length: 3,8 km out and back
Duration: 45 minutes out and back
Elevation gain: 38 m
Out-and-back trail 
The trail is not suitable for cycling.
Start from Cala d'Oliva,.

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The Trabuccato trail

Trailhead: Cala Murighessa
Arrival: Cala Reale
Length: 7,4 km
Duration: 2 hours 30 minutes
Elevation gain: 58 m
Out-and-back trail
The trail is not suitable for cycling
Start from Cala Murighessa

Vai al Sentiero

The Falcon trail

Trailhead: Cala d'Oliva
Arrival: Cala d'Oliva
Length: 19 km
Duration:7 hours
Elevation gain: 390 m
loop trail
The trail is not suitable for cycling.
Start from the hostel of Cala d'Oliva

Vai al Sentiero

La mappa dell'isola

Find your way

Print the description

You can download the trail description in PDF format on the page dedicated to the trail, so you can print it out and take it with you during the hike.

GPX trail

After choosing the trail, download the GPX track to make sure you find your way.

Hiker's tips and code of conduct

  • Do not leave the path.
  • Do not enter “A zones” (marked in red on the digital map).
  • Given the long exposure to the sun, the typically high temperatures on the island and the lack of shade, hiking and cycling are strongly discouraged in the summer months.
  • Do not collect any plant, animal, rock or sand. Do not leave traces: please take your garbage back with you and dispose of it in a rubbish bin.
  • Since availability of drinking water is limited, please take enough water with you.

This project was funded by

And carried out by

Thanks to the support of

Sponsored by

About us

Our love for hiking and our wish to encourage sustainable tourism brought about the creation of our company Janas Trek in 2019. We generate digital content to enhance areas along multi-day hiking trails and promote networks of small local businesses.

Janas Trek Srls

Viale Mameli 8b, Sassari (SS),
07100, Italy
P.I. 02776760908
[email protected]  
[email protected]

The forsaken church

The charming little forsaken church of Fornelli is now a shelter for wild animals.

The wash house

The old wash house takes us back to the daily activities that were carried out on the island.

The church of Cala Reale

The church of Cala Reale can be seen from the sea.

Mediterranean garden

This small botanic garden shows the species endemic to the island of Asinara.

Cala delle Barche Napoletane

This bay is renowned for its fine white sand and turquoise water.

Cala le Soriane

Cala le Soriane is an ideal stopover along the trail.

Cala Murighessa

Not far from the village of Cala d’Oliva, Cala Murighessa, with its turquoise water, is named after the mulberry tree, “murichessa” in Sardinian.

Cala delle Barche Napoletane

This bay is renowned for its fine white sand and turquoise water.

Trabuccato Tower

The island’s oldest tower of defence was designed by Andrea Perez, ordinary captain of the Works of the Kingdom of Sardinia. It was built in 1609 and underwent several restoration works during the 18th century. The tower features a flat roof and a domed vault.

Winery of Trabuccato

Panoramic view of the Trabuccato Tower and, below, the winery. During the time of the penal colony, this area was dedicated cultivating grapevines and producing wine.

Trabuccato

These buildings were once used for the third period of quarantine.

The quarantine periods

Along the way you can find the buildings of the first and second periods: these refer to the various quarantine periods on the island. The official use of the island as a lazaret for the Kingdom of Italy dates back to 1885.

The Austro-Hungarian ossuary

This large ossuary was built in 1936 at the behest of the Austrian government. The building stands uphill near the long pond, on the eastern slope of Mount Ruda. Inside are the remains of 7048Austro-Hungarian soldiers exhumed from the various cemeteries.

Domus de Janas

Largo spazio alla natura nell’area dietro Campu Perdu, in direzione “Mare di fuori”. In pochi minuti ci immergiamo nella natura incontaminata dove è facile incontrare la fauna dell’Isola.

Campu Perdu

The farming branch of Campu Perdu, situated in the namesake settlement, is part of the agricultural penal colony, established on the island in 1885. It was built after the First World War and hosted inmates working in farming.

The Austro-Hungarian chapel

This small chapel in the vicinity of Cala Reale sets us off on to this historical path.

Gli Stretti

The 290-metre-wide Piana gli Stretti is the narrowest part of the island.

Islets of Cala Sgombro di dentro

A beautiful archipelago southeast of Tumbarino.

Tumbarino

The wildlife observation centre was created renovating some buildings of the former prison settlement of Tumbarino. The rooms, which used to be prison cells, now host exhibitions and multimedia areas: a green hall for educational projects, a wildlife observation centre and a bird ringing site.

Spalmatore beach

This beach of fine white sand is located at the southern end of the island, west of Fornelli. The beach is accessible and visitors to the park may bathe here.

Cala Sant'Andrea

It is the northernmost beach of Asinara and probably the most beautiful. In winter, a small brook divides it in two. Due to their fragile ecosystem, the magnificent turquoise bay, the dunes and the juniper grove are now out of bounds: access to the beach and bathing are strictly prohibited.

Punta Li Giorri

Punta Li Giorri is situated at the end of a small granite peninsula which features two splendid bays.

Punta Barbarossa

This is the southernmost part of the island. The cape, which is named after the famous pirate, looks like a rocky projection stretching out towards Stintino.

Prison of Santa Maria

This is one of the most recent and modern branches. Horses, pigs, goats and calves were bred here and agriculture was practised using animal-drawn ploughs. This branch was also dubbed “foreignlegion”, as 95% of the inmates were foreigners.

Castellaccio

The Castellaccio fortress is a ruined medieval castle overlooking most of the island and the Strait of Fornelli. Its outer walls are on average 11 metres thick, and occasionally up to 14 metres thick. The entrance leads to a square with some ruined buildings, including a large rectangular one, which perhaps once served as lodging for watchmen who worked on the towers.

Spring and tank

You will encounter a spring whilst ascending towards the Castellaccio fortress. The tank above it has a simple and ingenious “overflow” system that supplies a drinking trough for cattle.

Prison of Fornelli

The Fornelli prison was the first detention centre built on the island. It was built during the Years of Lead to imprison members of the Red Brigades, hence the maximum security cells.

Cuile Zonca

This building was once used for farming. It marks the beginning of the descent towards Cala d’Oliva.

Punta Maestra Serre

Panoramic view from Punta Maestra Serre where radio towers – now disused – have been installed.

Elighe Mannu

The holm-oak grove in Elighe Mannu is the largest green lung of the island.

Punta Scomunica

Punta della Scomunica rises to a height of 408 metres atop the northern massif. It is the highest peak on the island.

Case Bianche

Casa Bianche was among the most inland detention centres. It used to accommodate relatively independent inmates, who would carry out tasks without being closely supervised.

Cala Giordano

Cala Giordano is situated on the east of the island, just opposite Punta Sabina. Its small beach, about 50metres long, is made of coarse golden sand and light-coloured pebbles.

The former Semaphore

The former Semaphore worked from 1924 to 1975 as a rainfall station and from 1937 to 1975 as a thermometric station. It consists of three buildings: the actual meteorological station, a small structure presumably used during the war as an ammunition depot and accommodation for the foreman.

Cala d'Arena

It is the northernmost beach of Asinara and probably the most beautiful. In winter, a small brook divides it in two.
Due to their fragile ecosystem, the magnificent turquoise bay, the dunes and the juniper grove are now out of bounds: access to the beach and bathing are strictly prohibited.

Cala d'Arena Tower

The construction of the tower started in 1610: it has the shape of a truncated cone, its diameter at the base measures about 12 metres and its entrance is 4.5 metres above the ground.

Cala Sabina

Also known as Cala dei Ponzesi, it is framed by a granite promontory to the north-east of Asinara. The beach of fine white sand is studded with a few rocks and immersed in the lush Mediterranean scrub, whose colours and aromas characterise the entire coast of the national park.

The lighthouse of Punta dello Scorno

The lighthouse, located on the north-west of the gulf of Asinara, was built in 1854 and activated in 1859 by the Royal Office of Civil Engineers of the Kingdom of Sardinia. The circular tower is about 35 metres high and was built in the centre of a three-storey building. It was manned until it was completely automated in 1977.