Dorgali sits on the eastern flank of the Supramonte, the limestone massif that fills the middle of Sardinia's Nuoro province, and the town spreads over its slope with the mountains behind and the Gulf of Orosei somewhere in the haze ahead. Six thousand people live here, enough for fuel, banks and a proper choice of bars, which matters because the SS125 Orientale Sarda is a long road with long gaps. Fill the tank here and you will not think about it again until Baunei or Tortolì.
The Supramonte is a rough, dry country of white rock, holm oak and juniper, cut by deep gorges. The best known is Gola Su Gorropu, a canyon whose walls rise several hundred metres and which can be reached on foot from the road above, a walk that takes a few hours and is not for flip-flops. Not far away, the ruins of the nuragic village of Tiscali hide inside a collapsed limestone dome, a place where people lived in the Bronze and Iron Ages and, according to the story, retreated when Rome arrived. Sardinia is thick with nuraghi, those conical stone towers of the second and first millennia before Christ, and this part of the island has some of the best.
Dorgali itself has a reputation for craftsmanship, with leather, ceramics, carpets and filigree jewellery all made locally, and it is the centre of a wine area whose Cannonau reds are dark and strong, not shy at all. Cheese, sausages, honey and the thin, crisp bread called carasau come with every meal. A lunch here is slow, so allow time, and remember that shops often close in the early afternoon.
The riding from Dorgali is the reason most people come. South of the town, the SS125 climbs through the hills in tight, rhythmical bends, with cork oaks and lentisk on one side and a drop on the other, and then it descends toward the coast with sea views that appear and disappear. Surfaces are generally good, though patched in places, and goats occasionally wander across the road. The side road to Cala Gonone, through a long tunnel under Monte Bardia, drops to a small resort on the gulf, where boats run to sea caves, and it is a good detour if you want a swim. In summer, the heat is serious, and the best riding hours are before eleven and after six.