Crossing the High Plains

Route details

Route with many different roads, with paved roads, gravel, dirt tracks and cobblestone into the city centres. Low difficulty.
You can follow the route entirely or only some parts.

Route length: 33,6 km.
Difficulty: low. The route is designed upon mainly country roads and low-traffic areas. Pay attention to crossroads and roundabouts.

Pay particular attention on these segments:

- Casalgrande: via Berlinguer. Estimated segment length: 200 metres.
- Scandiano (in the town of Arceto): Via per Casalgrande/SP66. Estimated segment length: 900 metres.
- Rubiera: all the town centre.

route description

As Giacomo Leopardi (one of the most famous poets of Italian Literature) said: "But sitting and gazing out, endless spaces beyond, and supernatural silences I can conjure up, and that deepest quiet, in which the heart comes neigh to fear".

From the highest point of Casalgrande Alto Castle we can really understand what Leopardi felt, sitting there on that lonely hill that overlooked everything.
From the Casalgrande hill we can admire all the immensity of the Pianura Padana, so silent from up here yet so bustling once we descend into it. In some clear days, stretch our eyes until the Alps, on the other side.
This route crosses all the Reggio high plain, starting from Casalgrande and ending in Correggio, the main centre for the Reggio Lowland.

We start then from the town centre of Casalgrande, heading north and plunging ourselves into the Great Plain. After some kilometres among country roads and farmhouses, we pass near Villa Spalletti Trivelli, scenic location now used for weddings, located into the small hamlet of San Donnino di Liguria. This amazing villa of the 17th century was built by Spalletti family, originally from Southern Switzerland and restored during the 1800s, with the creation of the wonderful English Garden, still visible today. In 1887 this villa hosted the Royal Family of Italy, with the King Umberto I of Savoy and Queen Margherita.

Continuing on the road flanking Tresinaro Stream, we now arrive in Rubiera, last Reggio municipality before the Province of Modena. Turning right we merge on the cyclable network that brings to the Natural Reserve of Secchia River, vital place for migrating birds and wildlife for the whole Pianura Padana. If you want to discover more about this strategical area, you can visit Corte Ospitale in Rubiera, information center for the Secchia Park with environmental education excursions, infographics, interactive experiences and so much more.

Our route then continues near La Garzaia (The Heronry), main birdwatching spot for the entire park, admiring a plethora of endemic and migrating birds.

Overpassing the Curiel Lakes, we now are into the Municipality of Campogalliano (Province of Modena), here we cross the bridge over the A1 Motorway and the High Speed railway. Once down from the bridge, we continue in parallel to the National Routes onto the service road and, turning right, we continue our route in the middle of the Plain.

We now reach San Martino in Rio, with the mighty Rocca Estense (Estense Castle). If you want to stop by, the Agriculture Museum (located inside the Rocca) deserves a visit.

Exiting from the town, we then arrive in Correggio, small capital of the homonymous County before and Dukedom after. This is the ending point of our route. The main landmark surely is the Palazzo dei Principi (Princes' Palace), home of the public library and of the museum dedicated to the famous painter Antonio Allegri, also known as Il Correggio, who was born here. Other monuments that deserve credit are Asioli Theatre, San Francesco Church, and the medieval fortress.

Our route ends here, the mountains and the hills where we started our journey are nowhere to be seen, there is only a line dividing the ground and the sky. In windy clear days though, those same mountains peep out from that line, demonstrating that they are always there, at the end of this endless space.

how to arrive

It is possible to follow the entire route or starting from one of the many passage points, following GPX tracks (for GPS devices or apps supporting this files), KML (for Google Earth) or the PDF map.

Reaching Casalgrande:

- by car: from Reggio Emilia onto SP66 to Scandiano and SP52 to Casalgrande/Sassuolo.

- by train: from Reggio Emilia FS with Regional Train of Trenitalia TPER to Sassuolo Radici on Reggio-Sassuolo line,  Casalgrande station.

Reaching Rubiera:

- by car: from Reggio Emilia onto SS9 Via Emilia to Rubiera and Modena

- by train: from Reggio Emilia FS with Regional Train of Trenitalia TPER to Bologna Centrale/Rimini/Pesaro/Ancona on Milano-Bologna line, Rubiera station.

Reaching San Martino in Rio:

- by car: from Reggio Emilia onto SS722 Tangenziale di Reggio and SP468R di Correggio

- with public transportation: from Reggio Emilia Autostazione - P.le Europa/CIM take bus no. 41 of SETA Lines to Correggio, arriving in San Martino in Rio/Via Roma bus stop.

Reaching Correggio:

- by car: from Reggio Emilia tramite SS722 Tangenziale di Reggio and SP468R di Correggio

- with public transportation: from Reggio Emilia Autostazione - P.le Europa/CIM take bus no. 43 di SETA to Rolo, arriving in Correggio

route tracks

Map in PDF (opens PDF)

Track in GPX (for GPS devices and GPX-supporting apps)

Track in KML (for Google Earth)