About 2 hrs
Any time of the year, although spring and fall are the best seasons as colors are really special.
This is undoubtedly one of the most fascinating and beautiful trails both in terms of panoramic views and nature.
Between the municipalities of Valfabbrica and Assisi, the creek “Rio Grande” offers an unspoiled setting, with vegetation consisting predominantly of typical Mediterranean shrubs and plants. This Pre-Apennine area is characterized by unusual climate and geological conditions, as testified by the presence of several termophiles. Thanks to the rough morphology of the terrain, the gorges of the Rio Grande offer visitors a unique natural scenario.
Coming to Valfabbrica (road SS 318) from Perugia, at the restaurant “Covo nord-est” (beginning of town), leave the road and make a right following the sign “Strada-Francescana – Pieve S. Nicolo’” (Franciscan trail – Church of St. Nicholas). After 150m and after crossing a bridge, continue for about 40m and turn right, ignoring the road uphill on your left. From here continue for about 600m until the village “Il Pioppo”. Here you can see a fork and the road turns around a beautiful renowned cottage. Turn left and follow the dirt road along the creek Rio Grande. After about 1km, there is another dirt road on your right crossing the creek over a bridge and leading to dense undergrowth. Ignore this trail. Continue for about 10m until the road swiftly turns left uphill. Leave your car here and continue on foot.
Following the trail along the Rio Grande, walk on your left for about 300m after crossing a flat and uncultivated clearing. At this point the trail seems to end, instead you can still continue beyond a small slope and then an easy ford on your right. After crossing the creek, you continue through a short clearing and already from here you can admire the beauty of the scenery, surrounded by holm oaks (Quercus ilex) and typical Mediterranean evergreen: Spartium iunceum (broom), Citisus scoparius Junipertib oxicedrus (red juniper), Smilax aspera (rough blindweed). In a few meters you have gone from an environment characterized by cold Lauretum to a warm climate, typical of the Tyrrhenian coast. Nature created a unique and fantastic masterwork here. Shall we able to appreciate and preserve it for the ones next to come?
Following the trail along the creek, after 10 minutes of walk, a mule track dug in the rocks opens up on your left, while on your right the trail becomes much dirtier, so that you have to cross the creek again and ignore the mule track on the left (the road ends just 20mt ahead). From here take the trail on your right and follow the main trail along the creek leading into the gorges of the Rio Grande. It is not easy to describe the trail here as the hard terrain does not allow completing the ring. Therefore, using the utmost attention, you must continue alongside the stream until you see some gorges ahead that make walking very difficult. Here you may want to go back along the path in the opposite direction.

Recommended equipment:
Trekking boots, water bottle, binoculars, camera, wind jacket.