The mountain that towers behind Assisi rises to 1,290 metres at its summit and is protected as a regional park. The upper slopes are bare grassland — used since prehistory for grazing — and offer some of the best long-distance views in central Italy: the Umbrian valley west to Perugia, the Apennine ridges east to the Marche, and the Tiber valley south toward Spoleto.
A network of marked trails climbs from Assisi through the Eremo delle Carceri and up to the summit; a road also winds to a parking area near the top for the less ambitious. In spring the slopes are covered in wild narcissus and orchids; in autumn the beech woods turn gold. A car is useful unless you have a full day for the walk.