Madonie, Sicily: Pizzo Carbonara

Pizzo Carbonara in sight


Pizzo Carbonara (1979 m), the second highest summit in Sicily  after Etna, can easily be reached along marked trails from Piano Battaglia in the Madonie Regional Nature Park.

We bought the 3 € hiking map in Cefalù, but it gave a more general information about hikes in the Madonie, not detailed info about specific itineraries. We did some research beforehand and concluded that it is best to do the hike counterclockwise. The trail number was 551, and clearly marked white/red.

Meadow in Piano Battaglia
Meadow in Piano Battaglia
Trail551 leaving Piano Battaglia
Trail551 leaving Piano Battaglia
Good markings to Carbonara
Good markings to Carbonara

At Piano Battaglia parking there was a map showing the trail passing underneath the summit with a short un-marked path to the top of Piano Battaglia. We soon found out that this was incorrect because the marked trail 551 took us directly to the summit.

From the parking, we crossed a flat grassy meadow, heading northeast, first along a dirt track then a good trail. It soon turned to northwest alternating in the woods or in open terrain. We walked past a signpost saying “Pizzo Carbonara” 1 h, trail 551, then dove into another  verdant wood. Higher up, there were more and more open areas. The trail was little frequented on the day of our hike. We saw more deer than humans! The relatively easy climb continued a bit more, and we turned north before the summit became visible in front of us.



Pizzo Carbonara 1h
Pizzo Carbonara 1h
Trail551 to Pizzo Carbonara
Trail551 to Pizzo Carbonara
Approaching Pizzo Carbonara
Approaching Pizzo Carbonara

The 551 trail went straight to the mountain top. We had a 360° panorama in spite of some haze. In addition, the nearby summits were almost as high as Carbonara.

We descended first heading west, then south where the 551 trail again ran through both some picturesque woods and rocky limestone terrain.

At about 1900 m elevation, we suddenly came to an intersection. A red and white marked trail forked sharply to the right, again no signpost, but we knew to ignore this and continued south.

At about 1730 m elevation, we came to another intersection (no signposts) where white and red marked trails separated (7 on the terrain map). We correctly thought that the right-hand trail descended to the lower parking by the S113 road. We forked left (east) and headed towards Piano Battaglia. The trail merged with the S113 road 500 m before our starting point. This trail was not shown on the map at the parking.

All in all, it turned out to be a great hike in pristine nature. We were even able to take some photos of a herd of deer . 


Pizzo Carbonara summit
Pizzo Carbonara summit
Pizzo Carbonara view southwest
Pizzo Carbonara view southwest
551 trail leaving Pizzo Carbonara
551 trail leaving Pizzo Carbonara
Deer near Pizzo Carbonara
Deer near Pizzo Carbonara
Coast seen from Carbonara trail
Coast seen from Carbonara trail

Climb: 400 m  
Distance: 7,7 km
Duration: 3h 15

Pizzo Carbobara track terrain

Pizzo Carbonara track sat


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