A perfect fall day hike, but it may be even better on a hot summer day

We’ve discovered a little-known trail along in the Valleriana—the verdant valley above Pescia—that makes me dream of being in Tuscany in the full unyielding heat of summer. The trail once was a mule route stitching together the villages of Sorana and Castelvecchio. The footpath, which occasionally yields to marshy, spring-fed patches, meanders under a dense, dappled cathedral of chestnut, beech, and oak trees. It faithfully follows the murmur of the Torrente di Pescia da Pontito, a lively creek whose course guides you to the skeletal remains of an ancient mill and its crumbling stone bridge.

Torrente di Pescia da Pontito

Lucy and I were the informal guides to a group of six American tourists staying in Montecatini with my cousin and friend Gina Natucci. We had been gifted a truly perfect autumn morning, bathed in the kind of crisp, golden light that seems to exist only in Italy. We had to hop across large stones to cross the torrente three times to reach the pools and lower turbine of the mill, a hike of about 20 minutes. We found small waterfalls emptying into several pools that measured a depth of about ten feet. Someone had moved some large flat stones, probably left over from the active days of the mill, to form two tables and several chairs that could be put into service for a picnic lunch.

Me with new friend Jaxson

We enjoyed watching the rushing water turn from blue to frothy white while it tumbled down the green valley. We explored the ruins of the mill and watched fingerlings skitter about in the calm pools. We were dressed for hiking and not swimming, but I couldn’t help but think what a terrific place this would be on a 90-degree summer day. While we usually avoid Tuscany during the sweltering summer months, even late spring and early fall can be uncomfortably hot. The valley, trees and rushing water would help cool the air, and if we were still too hot, that could easily be remedied by wading or even soaking in the pools. Very few tourists or even locals spend much time in this sparsely populated valley that is also known as Svizzera Pesciatina, so-called because of a well-known Swiss economist who said it reminded him of the environs of his family home.

From what I can determine, there was a water turbine inside the hollow area of this bridge.

I’ve read that there is another turbine, a small dam and one or two footbridges that we could have seen if we had continued upstream, but we had a schedule to keep; it also appeared that the trail became more difficult at this point. I’ll find them next time. Lucy and I will definitely be back, but hopefully with shorts, a picnic lunch, a blanket and good book—maybe even a pillow, so we can take a nice nap in the cool of the forest.

Stone tables and benches for our future picnic.

We can dip in this pool on a hot day.

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