Valle del Bove

Valle del Bove is one of the best known parts of Mount Etna. It is said to have been formed about 64 thousand years ago during an eruption that caused the collapse of the land that today forms a desert caldera. The height difference of the depression reaches as much as one km while the Bove Valley as a whole measures 5 km by 6 km in length.

There is an area at its northernmost point, the Serra delle concazze, full of ridges that can be visited via 4×4 such as Rocca della Valle, Monte Scorsone and Rocca Capra.
In the opposite area, on the other hand, to the south, is the Serra del Salifizio where, via cable car, Mount Zoccolaro and Donkey’s Back can be visited.

The 1991 and 1992 eruption of Etna that headed toward the town of Zafferana Etnea is one of the largest we can remember occurring in this valley and affected as much as 48 square kilometers, lasting a total of 400 days. Its development could have had much more serious implications if three experimental-type interventions had not been planned to block the flow of lava toward the town.

The first involved the blasting of explosives at elevation 2000 in the engulfment channels. The second, however, that concrete blocks would be released to block the engulfment channels themselves, causing the lava to flow out. The third wanted the construction of contained barrages under Portella Calanna.

Trekking

If you love Trekking and want to visit this area, just go to the vicinity of the Etna Cable Car, from which you can climb to an altitude of 2500 meters and see the adventitious cones of the volcano. The alternative could be Serracozzo, starting from Rifugio Citelli, where you can see a cave of “recent” formation.