You follow a section of the old route of the “Ferrovia delle Zolfare,” begun in 1914 to connect the Trabia–Tallarita sulfur mine between Sommatino and Riesi, the Grasta mine north of Delia and Sommatino, and the Gallitano mine of Mazzarino to San Michele di Ganzaria. During the Second World War construction was halted, and it was ultimately abandoned due to the sulfur industry crisis. Only in 2020, after decades of neglect, what remains of the railway line was enhanced by an association dedicated to it—the tourist Greenway—which later became part of the network of slow walking routes of the First World Park of the Mediterranean Lifestyle.
The route is marked by several small stations originally built to serve the mining supply chain. They handled loading and unloading of raw material and transport from the large mining basin that included the Trabia Tallarita, Grasta, and Gallitano mines. These mines exploited a sulfur deposit embedded within the sediments of the so-called Upper Miocene gypsum–salt formation, which began 23.03 million years ago (Ma) and ended 5.332 Ma—a period that saw the Messinian salinity crisis leading to the genesis of the gypsum–salt formation. The 16.5 km route also allows visits to the La Palumma Mine, the Ciuria karst cave, the Campo drinking trough, and the ancient Campo well/“gebbia.” The route offers landscapes with very low human presence, an unspoiled rural environment dominated by extensive cereal farming, and high-value birdlife such as the peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus).