The Lame Rosse (“Red Blades”) are mountains and badlands in Marche, part of the Sibillini Mountains massif.

Usually, travel guides describe the local landscape saying it looks like a place on Mars, Colorado’s Grand Canyon, or some Saharan region. Those are indeed the closest comparisons.

The red hue of the badlands and mountaintops, which overlook the river Fiastrone, is the color of naked rock – not red in shame, but simply rich of iron oxide. The calcareous dress that used to cover the Lame Rosse’s sides was eroded over the centuries, and has fallen to their feet in a bed of gravel.

Now the mountain walls show the silty clay that formed in the Eocene Age, with color variations including green, yellow, and of course the predominant red.

They are located above Lake Fiastra, in the district of San Lorenzo al Lago in the Municipality of Fiastra, in the province of Macerata, between Mount Fiegni (1323 m asl) and Mount Petrella (1155 m asl). Below them flows the Fiastrone river which originates from the homonymous lake. The possible routes to get to the Red Blades are varied but the most common is the one that starts from Lake Fiastra; the itinerary, round trip on the same path, is 7 kilometers long and the difference in height is 200 meters. It is therefore suitable for most people: first walk on a dirt road and then almost always in the shade inside a holm oak wood, where the road becomes a pleasant path. The area is particularly striking and varies between long stretches of lush vegetation, short glimpses of the lake up to a fairytale landscape due to the typical red color of the Lame. Due to the abundance of water, the flora and fauna are very rich. The round trip time is about 3 hours. It starts on foot from the dam of the lake, leaving your car here and continuing on foot over the dam, then go up and at the first crossroads on the dirt road turn right and continue for another 30 minutes. Alternatively you can also start from the Ruffella lookout, passing through the hamlet of Fiegni, always in the Municipality of Fiastra.

Le Marche Guide

Agriturismo Pascucci

Lame Rosse – Red Blades Grand Canyon of Sibillini

Lame Rosse – Red Blades Grand Canyon of Sibillini

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