The northern side: ghost villages and hidden springs.

A pedestrian path leads from the port to Valdichiesa, crossing a fragrant broom bush (Spartium junceum), arborescent spurge (Euphorbia arborea) and cyst (Cistus spp.), continuing along the north-western slope to the village of Zucco Grande, abandoned for almost a century on the wave of the strong migratory flow that depopulated, in a few decades, the island of Filicudi. A short detour leads to Vallone Fontana, where in a small cave covered with capelvenere (Adianthus capillus-veneris) the fresh water coming from the springs above is collected, creating a micro-habitat truly unique and suggestive; the path to Punta Ariella and Case Ficarrisi crosses instead a thick scrub with heathers, strawberry trees, cysts and an interesting wild rose, the Rosa micrantha, frequent in the fresh and mountain environments of Sicily but rather rare in the small islands. Case Ficarrisi is the name of another settlement, smaller than the previous and largely ruined, overlooking the vast slopes of Siccagni, the opposite islets of Canna and Montenassari and the cliffs of Filo del Banco, where there is a conspicuous colony of hawk of the queen (Falco eleonorae). The return trip can include a variation, taking a path that leads directly from Punta Ariella to Serro Chiumento and Valdichiesa.

Duration: 3 hours (to Vallone Fontana) or 5 hours (to Case Ficarrisi)

Difficulty: medium