From Finale, pedal up the highway deep into the mountains. Eventually, you’ll turn right on an even steeper paved road—here, the climbing begins in earnest! Near the top of the ridge, you’ll hop onto singletrack and stay on trail for most of the ride.

After twisting and turning through the trees, you’ll pop out onto an exposed ridge with stunning views of Spotorno and the Mediterranean far below. And it only gets better from here!

Soon, you’ll dive into a flowy, mellow singletrack punctuated by the regular ledge drops common in this area of Italy. After flying down a series of mellow drops, you’ll eventually reach the main course: the DH Donne trail.

DH Donne drops swiftly toward the sea, with stunning views of the blue waters in front of you. While not as difficult as nearby DH Uomini, the descent is filled with burly rock gardens, eroded sections of singletrack, drops, and more rocky gnar.

Soon you’ll reach a split, and it’s decision time. The route mapped here turns off of DH Donne and follows the Balcone trails. These idyllic traversing singletrack trails provide absolutely stunning views of the Mediterranean, directly from seat of your bike! The unbelievable vistas make this trail ultra-popular with photographers shooting product advertisements. I mean, does it get much more picturesque than a narrow singletrack trail illuminated by the setting sun, with small Italian villages and the Mediterranean Sea in the background?

The one downside to following the route as mapped is that the final descent loses elevation on a paved road. Unfortunately, none of the trails near the end of the Balcone trails are open to bicycles. At the aforementioned split, if you continue straight on DH Donne, that trail should drop you all the way down to the sea.

If you really want to see the Balcone trails, one viable option is to take a break from your ripping descent and ride out-and-back on the Balcone trails, then resume the descent down DH Donne. Whichever route variant you choose, this loop is a winner!