Stage 13: Usciolu → Matalza

7.5 km from Refuge d'Usciolu (1750 m) to Refuge de Matalza (1460 m), with 220 m of ascent and 520 m of descent.

Walking time by fitness profile

Times computed with the RandoNav planning algorithm. Breaks not included.

On the trail

The morning out of Usciolu delivers one of the GR20's most curious landscapes: the Arête a Monda, better known as the 'arête des statues' — a long granite ridge weathered into towers and silhouettes that genuinely do look like a procession of stone figures. The trail threads between and over them, more playful puzzle than serious scramble, and from the crest you can sometimes see the sea on both sides of the island at once.

Then the mountains simply exhale. The path drops through Bocca di l'Agnone onto the Coscione plateau, an unexpected upland of grassy meadows, meandering streams and pozzines cropped short by free-ranging horses, pigs and cattle. After ten days of granite, walking on soft turf feels faintly illegal. Streams provide paddling and bottle-filling opportunities before the easy final stretch to the bergerie-refuge at Matalza, 1,460 m, dozing among the pastures. It's one of the shortest days of the whole traverse — under four and a half hours at a classic pace — so let it be slow: this is the GR20's designated deep breath before Monte Incudine tomorrow.

Start / end

About this stage

Stage 13 links Refuge d'Usciolu (1750 m) with Refuge de Matalza (1460 m) over 7.5 km, climbing 220 m and descending 520 m. This stage lies in the southern half of the GR20 (after Vizzavona), which is greener and slightly gentler than the north. Water is available at every stop on this stage.