The idea for this post started to take form after getting back from a run one morning. My usual route takes me through the pine woodland of Is Compinxeddus and Is Compinxius referred to locally as Rimboschimento. The end of the woodland stretch passes a picnic area, it can be quite a popular spot with a scattering of picnic tables which sit under the shade of the pine trees. It’s close to the road making it an easy, convenient and comfortable location to stop for lunch. A few times I have seen its tables full with cyclists taking a welcome rest in the woods and families picnicking in the shade.
This particular time, I’d been stopped just before I reached the picnic area by a trio of ladies. They had set off up one of the trails from the picnic area to explore the woods. They had gone no further than 1Km from where they had started and flagged me down to ask where the path went and if the route was circular. To be honest I had no idea at the time what routes the numbered posts took and I couldn’t safely say which one to follow. I was considering the difficulty of explaining a circular route (which I knew was possible) using our jumbled Italian/English conversational skills, which with fairness, their English was far better than my Italian. In the end they seemed happy to be able to reach the Ginepro Monumentale and walk back down. The Monumental Juniper is a large Juniper tree high up in the woods near where the woodland starts to transition to high sand dunes and one of the many interesting points on the circular route I’ll later describe.
The walk takes in shaded pine forest, monumental junipers, vast sand dunes hiding in the hills, amazing coastal vistas and well-preserved fortified remnants of the second world war. They are known locally as Fortini Militari and in English they would be referred to as Pill-Boxes. Part of the walk is part of my running route and part of the walk is a walk we usually take visiting friends on as its beautiful and diverse. Researching this piece, I have found some other versions of this walk on Trail and other trekking websites and the route also shows up on Strava heat maps. A couple of these descriptions are now out of date due to the Corpo Forestale moving one of their huts, which appears as a visual marker in at least two versions of the walk. I am not going to put up GPS locations for the walk, for the excellent reason that I don’t have them, I have instead opted for describing the walk whilst keeping it simple and hopefully not confusing. I hope I have found the right balance between and sparsity and detail. I have plotted the walk on a map so there is a visual element to the walk, which with its 230m of altitude, well-marked trails and reasonably short distance combine to create a dramatic and exhilarating yomp through nature and history.
I have given 2 variations for the start and finish of the walk, as depending on the time of year it may not be possible to park at the picnic area, as during the summer months the picnic makes a popular free parking area for beach goers. Instead, you’ll have to start at the paid beach parking on the main beach road. Which handily make Dido’s Beach Bar a perfect start and finish for the walk if that’s the side of Is Compinxeddus that you find yourselves. I will give a google maps link to both starting points.
So, the forest or woodland itself is usually shown as Is Compinxeddus or Is Compinxius depending on which side you are, locally the whole is referred to as Rimboschimento. The signposts that you’ll come across in the Rimboschimento are plentiful and labelled for the trails I have mentioned. For the majority of the uphill climb you will be following the 304A route. Although following any signpost for Ginepro Monumentale will get you on your way, the single marker posts that are dotted on the trail will be marked 304A . Another intriguing element of the signposting is that the distance numbering doesn’t have a unit of measure. This used to confuse me as I had assumed it was in Kilometres and it got me into some situations where I was still in the woods when darkness had come. This was when I was first exploring these routes and after measuring some distances I think the best bet is to presume minutes as it is the only measure that makes any sort of sense. I find this a strange choice as time is dependent on pace so it would be a subjective unit of measure to use, but I have seen it before, although the unit of measure was given in all these cases. For an example of this, from the carpark to the Big Ole Juniper the initial signpost is labelled as 0.45, it is roughly just over 2km on the trail to the tree and took me about 25 minutes (but I have a strong walking pace). It’s an uphill stretch so 45 mins could be the average time. If anyone does this walk from these instructions, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this and also the walks description. If you enjoyed the walk or you thought it the biggest waste of a couple hours that could’ve been better spent at the beach.
POST SCRIPT:
After getting my friends and family to test the route and with the kids navigating from the instruction. It’s worth noting that the walk to the Ginepro Monumentale from the picnic area took us as a group about 45mins and the whole walk took 2hrs 45 mins with a one big sit-down at the Dune.
Some signposts locally have been updated to include the suffix of hours as a unit of measure. The new signs appeared a few weeks before the Iglesiente area appeared on the Rai television programme “Sentieri – La Strada Giusta”. This particular episode which is available to watch on Rai Player is called “Sardegna, in cammino lungo la costa delle miniere”. It covers walks, culture and a history of the coastline from the beach at Fontanamare – Buggerru and the beach at San Nicoló whilst also incorporating the Island of San Pietro and Carloforte.
Whilst looking for photos of the Dunes in all their glory, I couldn’t find many that didn’t have the deep tracks and ruts created by off road vehicles. On my last visit with friends just before Easter the whole Dune was scarred by one particularly persistent and destructive jeep and what looked like multiple motor bikes. The Jeep had managed to get to the top of the dune and up onto the walking route and gouged its way through many plant roots and foliage. I’ve been led to believe in my time here that the Dune is a protected area but I see little attempt by anyone to stop this destructive behaviour. No sign of a gate to block access from the Strada Delle Dune, nor signs to say this behaviour isn’t permitted. So if you do this route and are presented with the upsetting carnage and destruction of what is quite a rarefied and unique ecosystem, then I urge you to petition the Corpo Forestale, Forestas and The Comune Di Buggerru to protect the dunes. I’ll try and locate e-mails for these institutions and put them in the links area.
The Map and The Route Description are Downloadable. With an Italian one to follow. Enjoy.
Google Maps and Links:
Area Picnic Di Portixeddu – https://goo.gl/maps/7uWKxgjJfjUTXm3K8
Corpo Forestale Di Portixeddu – https://goo.gl/maps/RhG4MeBfZPsurrmd7
Raiplay Sentieri link – https://www.raiplay.it/video/2023/04/Sentieri-La-strada-giusta—Sardegna-in-cammino-lungo-la-costa-delle-miniere—08042023-58307802-276d-4a6a-9dee-6edd37444cad.html
Disclaimer:
All care has been taken to make the walk descriptions and other information on this website as accurate as possible, but use of any of the information is entirely at the user’s risk. The Author accepts no responsibility for any loss, injury, damage, mishap or inconvenience sustained by anyone pursuing any of the activities described on this website. Personal safety is the responsibility of each walker. You must exercise your own independent judgment as to whether the walk routes suggested on this site are safe for you in the context of your fitness, training, skills and experience.
Geographical information provided for each walk on this website is for a suggested walk route only and it is up to every walker to evaluate for themselves the best and safest way to actually proceed.
