GTA Variante alta del Monviso: Stage 50A Villanova Pellice - Rifugio Granero | Lake Maggiore, Lake Orta, Lake Mergozzo and Ossola Valleys

Highlights and tour details

Exit the hamlet of Villanova (1230 m) and continue along the dirt road in a south-westerly direction; on the left, leave the junction for the bridge over the Pellice stream and the trail that goes along side it on the right bank and continue on the road passing close to Case Brunel. The road finishes shortly after a bridge on a side stream and you continue on a wide mule track that reconnects to the military road for the Conca del Prà in Mirabuc. Continue on a section of road halfway up the slope crossing a plateau with a beautiful waterfall on the right. After the plateau the trail cuts several bends and you return to the road for a short section and then leave it definitively following a trail on the right which rises above the road in parallel and tackles a steeper section on rock (slippery if wet, presence of ropes) which leads to a small threshold on Conca del Prà close to the Jervis Refuge (1732 m). Follow the flat cart track on the bottom of the lengthened Conca del Prà for its entire length (approx. 3 km) keeping on the hydrographic left of the Pellice stream which, in full summer, disappears for a long section, reappearing at the end of the basin. Passed among the typical constructions of Partia d'Amunt (1750 m), continue the trail reaching Pian Sineive (2060 m) where the commemorative star erected by CAI in 1958 was placed to remember the air disaster of 21 July 1957 in which 9 men belonging to the US Navy perished. To the left, you can see Agugliassa, Manzol, Granero, to the right the steep rocky bastion that goes from Barsaglia to Punta del Pissetas. Crossed the entire plateau, you pass the Pellice stream and follow the trail which climbs up the edge of a steep grassy slope, the "Schiena d'Asino". You quickly gain altitude, arriving in view of Lake Lungo; at this point, turn left around a summit to reach the Granero Refuge (2377 m), visible only at the last moment.