On the night of 26 October 2002 the ground opened on Etna's north side, just above Piano Provenzana. A line of craters — the bottoniera, craters set in a row like buttons — poured out lava that swept through the ski station and burned into the pine forest below. Twenty years on, the flow is still black and sharp, the dead trees are still standing at its edge, and those craters are where this hike takes you.
The route starts at Piano Provenzana (about 1,800 m), the main tourist area of the north side, and climbs to roughly 2,000 m. You walk on and alongside the lava of 1923 and 2002, through beech woods and open volcanic ground, up to the 2002 craters. It is a real hike on loose, uneven terrain — not a stroll — but there is no extreme altitude and no exposed passages. Round trip, about 5 km.
What the guide adds
Your guide is a certified volcanological guide who works this side of the mountain all year. Along the way you learn how the 2002 fracture opened and where the lava went, how the older 1923 flows differ from the 2002 ones, and how life is coming back — the pioneer plants on the black sand, the animals that returned first. Pace, stops and length adapt to your group, because nobody else is walking with you.
