The stage is an alternative start of the itinerary from Verbano. You depart from the car park of the panoramic viewpoint located in the municipality of Oggebbio, at the crossroads of SP 133 of Piancavallo with the SP 56 Premeno-Colle. You go along the Premeno-Colle road (already route VBAR10), reach the entrance of the Cadorna military road to Monte Morissolo, just beyond the Auxiological Institute of Piancavallo, and follow it to Colle. From Colle continue once again along the Cadorna military road, in the direction of Passo Folungo, passing the localities of Pian d'Arla and Pian Puzzo, always remaining along the VBAR10 route, on the orographic left side of the upper Valle Intrasca overlooking Lake Maggiore. From Passo Folungo, go up in the direction of Pian Vadà, again along the Cadorna military road identified as route VBAR20. The route exceeds the difference in height by a little more than 350 m with six easy hairpin bends and reaches Pian Vadà where the stage ends. In Pian Vadà it is possible to stay overnight in an unmanaged refuge or bivouac. Both facilities are owned by the Park Authority. The refuge offers 14 beds in a large room, which is heated with a wood-burning stove and has electricity produced by a photovoltaic system. You must make a reservation with the Park Authority at n. 0324-87540 to use it. The bivouac that is unattended and always open, offers 3 beds on planking and is not heated. There is a fountain in the appurtenant area of the buildings.

From Pian Cavallo to Pian Vadà and Zeda you can follow cart tracks, paths and fortifications that are part of the "Cadorna Line" that was built during the First World War as a war road, and is now a precious resource for mountain hiking. The route already has a series of educational panels that were set up as part of an extensive conservative restoration of the Cadorna Line artefacts, carried out by the park and the Municipality of Aurano with funding from the Ministry of the Environment and Interreg. The geographical-strategic location of the defensive lines, together with the orographic location of the fortified positions, today offers great landscape and extraordinary visual opportunities as far as the Apennines, Monviso and the Insubric lakes below. The geological theme offers an extraordinary opportunity to read the phenomena of the birth of a continent and the Alpine orogenesis linked to the so-called "Series of lakes". The chosen itinerary, with the scientific support of the University of Milan, lends itself in an optimal way to illustrate the complex geological phenomena that lead to the formation and growth of the continental crust. In fact, the evidence of a succession of events that took place over a period of about 300 million years that is linkable to the global tectonics of the planet, can be recognised on the ground. With the intervention project, the sites that best respond to the enhancement of the studied lithological and geomorphological components, have been identified and the most suitable points for the placement of 13 explanatory panels/readings have been selected.

Pian Vadà Bivouac

Piancavallo can be reached by car and bus

Source: Ente Parco Nazionale Val Grande
Itinerary code: VGP
Phone coverage: partial
Recommended period: Apr - Oct
Access by public transport: Yes
Classification: Medium and low mountain provincial
Provinces crossed: Distretto dei Laghi