Costa degli Etruschi May 2021 - Sasso Pisano

It's a long and winding road to get to Sasso Pisano from any direction but it's a fine and breezy Sunday morning very early in May and it's a pleasant drive through countryside and forest. We park just before Sasso Pisano at the start of walk C12 in the "fumarole" car park. We got all we needed for our picnic at the L'angolo dei golosi corner shop in Mazzanta. Bread, thinly sliced semi-dolce raw ham, a couple of bananas and a sfoglia with ricotta and mascarpone. So by ten we are already exploring the 'steaming ground' area. Boiling steam hisses out of the ground, bleaching the red terrain white and warming the rock far too much for any vegetation to survive. The areas of bare whitish terrain are called Biancane and the path takes us through or around several. The best sight is at the very top of one of the Biancane. Here water is bubbling and boiling amongst clouds of sulphur-smelling steam making for a spectacular sight. We proceed slowly. It's a multisensory trail, the noise and warmth of the steam and the bubbling water and just beyond some frogs croaking in a pond and the smell of sulphurous vapours are added values to the interesting landscapes.

We arrive at a larger and signposted area above Monterotondo Marittimo and walk all around it but decide not to go as far as the village. Instead we head off on a trail in a slightly different direction which should take us back to Sasso by a different route. There are some good paths but this particular route, which Andrea found on Wikiloc, isn't signposted. Fortunately the GPS and the Wikiloc map keep us going in the right direction. It's getting past lunchtime but the sun has disappeared behind a cloud. We eventually come to a wood hut in the forest where there are some tables and benches and respectfully picnic there. It's a tasty picnic but quite chilly by the time we've finished.

From here it's just a few minutes to get back down to Sasso Pisano, a minute medieval village perched on a rock, but long enough for the cloud to disappear to be replaced by sun and a clear blue sky. It takes just a few minutes to explore. Then we look for the thermal baths area. The official one, closed, just beyond an enormous football ground, is easy to find, but the washing area beyond that to the right is harder to identify. Only on the way back do we discover we just needed to follow the wooden walk way from the carpark beyond the Biolake. A similar pathway heads up in the other direction to another one, which hasn't been restored.

After exploring Sasso we walk back to the car and drive to the final thermal baths area near the Roman-Etruscan ruins. Heading up on the road signposted Il Bagno about 3 kilometres from Sasso takes us up on a very narrow white road to where there's parking just for a couple of cars. I'm already regretting the escapade even before I discover the "free thermal pools" are tiny and shallow pools created by rocks in rather cloudy and uninspiring water.

On the way back we stop at La Leccia, a tiny beautiful village and snooze for just a few minutes in the shade of the cypresses at the nearby Madonna del Libro sanctuary.

It's time to be heading for home. Near Canneto we take a wrong turn and the drive back is even more full of bends in the woods. By the time we get to Castagneto Carducci we are both too tired to stop. There are loads of cars parked anyway, the first free Sunday in yellow zone has prompted people to get out and about. After nearly burning some fine lamb (the oven got the better of me again!), we go to the beach for a wild, windy, cold but beautiful sunset.