Enza River Cycling Trail

Route analysis

Totally plain route, with paved roads and some segments in dirt tracks. Low difficulty route. It is possible also to follow smaller segments of this route.

Route length: 48,8 km.

Difficulty level: low. The route follows country roads and streets with little or no traffic. Pay attention in crossroads, roundabouts and town centres.

Please pay particular attention on these segments:

- San Polo d'Enza: part of SP22, estimated length: less than 100 metres

- Montecchio E.: segment of SP12 exiting the town centre. Estimated length: 1,7 km.

- S. Ilario d'Enza: urban part of Via Emilia - SS9 (sidewalks e safe crossing points are available). Estimated length: 220 metres

- Taneto di Gattatico: Via Bertozzi until the roundabout exiting the town. Estimated length: 600 metres

- Gattatico: from the Industrial Area roundabout until the end of the A1/High Speed bridge - Via Setti. Estimated length: 1,2 km

- Sorbolo a Levante: part of SP62R from the roundabout until the beginning of the cycling path. Estimated length: 600 metres.

Route description

The River Enza is a Apennines-born stream, which has its springs in Lago Paduli, a manmade lake at Lagastrello Pass, across Tuscany and Emilia Romagna, divided among the provinces of Reggio Emilia, Parma and Massa Carrara. This river naturally divides the province of Reggio Emilia from the province of Parma, crossing the Mathilda of Tuscany counties, the Knights' Valley and longitudinally marks the border from south to north, from the spring to its ending into the Po river, 93kms north.

This route follows the medium and lower stream of the river, from where the hills end to the river ending, located between Sorbolo (Province of Parma) and Brescello, starting from San Polo d'Enza, passing through Sant'Ilario, Montecchio and the Gattatico municipality.

We start from San Polo d'Enza, where we can visit the year 1000 castle (called Rocca) and the Resistance Museum. The whole historical town is fortified, and together with the castle, they represent the last medieval relics of the town.

We then get out from the town and enter the Pianura Padana, with the last hills behind us.
The River Enza, being itself an irregular flow stream, has a great difference in water flow rate between winter and summer. While in summer can be a quaint stream with slow currents where (in selected areas and specific locations) one can take a refreshing dip, we cannot say the same thing for what concerns winter, as heavy rains or melting snows upstream have many times created disruptions, damages, and even overflows, due to the massive amount of water in the river. On the Parma side of the river, the water regulation consortium created retention basins and expansion areas in order to avoid embankment disruptions in the lower part of the river.
Along its stream, flora and fauna found a safe haven, as we can find typical Emilian vegetation (oaks, beeches, elms, etc.), an impressive amount of birds, small mammals and even predators, with some recorded passages of wolves in the hilly part (coming from the bushes and forests of the mountains), and a stable presence of foxes and hedgehogs.

We then enter in Montecchio Emilia, where the major landmark surely is the Castle, built in 1114 in an original document signed by Mathilda of Tuscany herself. Being in the most strategic position between Parma and Reggio Emilia, it has a 360° degrees view on all the high plain area, including the river Enza and part of the hills in the south.v This was the main fortress in the Canossa protection system built in the high plains.

It is also worth a visit the Parish of San Donnino, dated back in the 11th century C.E. and restored many times along the History. 
Coming back in the countryside, the hills behind us are nearly disappeared. We then arrive in Sant'Ilario d'Enza, bustling hard-working town on the Via Emilia, last town of Reggio before the city of Parma. The Church of Sant'Eulalia, main church of the town, was built around the year 1220, by request of Pope Honorius III. Along the river we can find the Ecological Restoration Area "I Pioppini" (Little Poplars), 42.000 sq meters of natural areas, full of trekking and cycling trails, wildlife watching areas, and relaxing meadows.

We then cross the Via Emilia, and after some kilometres, we overpass the A1 motorway Milan-Naples and the High Speed railroad, that signals the beginning of the lower and final part of the Enza river.

Here the cycling path mainly follows the river embankment, following country roads with no traffic. Here we can oversee from our perspective, the towns of Sorbolo a Levante and Lentigione, where in 2017, a terrible flooding of the River Enza, which overflown the embankment, flooded the two towns, provoking the closure of the Suzzara-Parma railroad and the Regional road SP62R for a prolonged time.

We then arrive at the ending of the River Enza, in Brescello, the famous "Mondo Piccolo" of Giovannino Guareschi, setting for the beloved adventures of Don Camillo and Peppone. This town was also the birthplace of the great founder of the British Museum Library, Antonio Panizzi. Unmissable to visit are the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore, the museums of Roman History, of the Cinema and the Museum of Don Camillo and Peppone.

On the main embankment of the Po river, within short distance from the town centre, we can see the river Enza estuary inside the Po river, silently flowing into the Great River.

How to arrive

Arriving in San Polo d'Enza:

- by car: from Reggio Emilia via SP28 to Cavriago and SP22 to San Polo and Parma. From Parma via SP513R to Traversetolo and Reggio Emilia

- by train: from Reggio Emilia FS take the Regional train to Ciano on the Reggio-Ciano line and get off in San Polo.

Arriving in Montecchio Emilia:

- by car: via SP28 to Montecchio Emilia

- by train: from Reggio Emilia FS take the Regional train to Parma/Piacenza/Milano C.le on the Milano-Bologna line and get off in Sant'Ilario d'Enza. Here take the bus no. 65 of SETA to Montecchio and get off at the Montecchio-Scuole bus stop.

Arriving in Sant'Ilario d'Enza:

- by car: from Reggio Emilia via SS9 Via Emilia

- by train: from Reggio Emilia FS take the Regional train to Parma/Piacenza/Milano C.le on the Milano-Bologna line and get off in Sant'Ilario d'Enza.

Arriving in Gattatico e Taneto:

- by car: from Reggio Emilia via SS9 Via Emilia and SP39

- by train: from Reggio Emilia FS take the Regional train to Parma/Piacenza/Milano C.le on the Milano-Bologna line and get off in Sant'Ilario d'Enza. Here take the bus no. 65 of SETA to Campegine and get off in Taneto.

Arriving in Brescello:

- by car: from Reggio Emilia via SP358R di Castelnovo to Poviglio and SP1 to Brescello

- by train or public transportation: from the Bus Station CIM in Piazzale Europa take the bus no. 93 of SETA to Boretto and get off in Brescello.
In alternative, from Reggio Emilia FS take the Regional train to Parma/Piacenza/Milano C.le on the Milano-Bologna line and get off in Parma, then change trains and take the Regional train to Suzzara on the Parma-Suzzara line and get off in Boretto.

tracks and maps

Map in PDF (directly downloads the PDF)

GPX (for GPS device and mobile-supporting apps)

KML (for Google Earth)