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Island of Elba in Tuscany - Punta Calamita

With its web of tracks and narrow trails that unwind overlooking the sea and inside a large pine-forest, the peninsula of Punta Calamita is one of the most scenic landscapes of the island and the ideal place to do everything you want with your mountain bike in total safety. The promontory is an important mining area already known and exploited by the Etruscans and takes its name from the presence of magnetite. It is the only mineral naturally magnetized and due to this characteristic has originated many legends. So if it may be true that the compasses of ships passing near this coast leave the North to point towards Punta Calamita, it is certainly imaginative and improbable that the strength of the great magnet could also tear away the nails from the planking of old boats.

Since there is no need for a compass this time, let’s get back on our mountain bike and starting from the picturesque village of Capoliveri (the square with the belvedere is a beauty) take towards Costa dei Gabbiani, along a wide and smooth unpaved road from which you can see the island of Corsica and the outlines of the southern islands of the Tuscan Archipelago. After 3.6 km. there is a fork and to the right the road descends to the beach of Innamorata, with the two Gemini islands in front. Back onto the main road you will soon enter the mining area with its rusty skeletons of wharfs and other equipment clearly indicating their state of abandonment, while mineral scoriae color the sea red which otherwise is perfectly transparent already a few meters from the beach. After 9.7 km. and after other forks and a tourist resort with horseback riding grounds, the unpaved road enters the pine-wood and after 10.8 km. reaches a crossroads with a fresh water basin used by the Foresters in case of fire.

The first road to the left is a pretty track on soft ground, shady and in plain, that arrives at another crossroads from which the road most to the right will take you back to the main ring of Punta Calamita, while the other ones explore Mount Calamita (413 m.) winding inside the fresh pine-wood. In any case, all the roads will take you back to Capoliveri, the starting point of this itinerary, where a glass of scented Aleatico, a strong sweet red Italian wine, will invigorate your muscles better than any other beverage.

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