Description of the route
Follow the track around the contour of the mountain until you come to the pass where there is an old derelict rustico. Take the path round to the left, and stay on this path which follows the contour of the same mountain on route 504. This path will twist and turn, go up and down and even take you through a short gully cut into the rock until you eventually come out onto a gravel road. turn right and after a two hundred meters or so you will join a tarmac road where you have to turn left and follow it to Osteria.
You will pass the Trattoria Bussi on your left, here you can stop for refreshments and enjoy the views across to the pre-alps. you could even stop for lunch, the grigliata mista di carne (mixed grill of meat)is very good and on Sundays they prepare Spiedo. If you continue along the road until you will come to Trattoria al Cacciatore, the food here is also very good, and they also have a cafe bar if you just want a coffee or light refreshments, there are no views but they do have beautiful gardens.
If you just want to keep walking and have reached the Trattoria al Cacciatore then you need to turn round and walk back up the road about for approx 200m and take the left turn, you will see a marker 504. After 30m you need to leave the road and follow the path off up to your left(this path sometimes has a locked chain across it that you may need togo around, the chain is to prevent motocross bikes). Follow this path up the mountain (it’s quite steep so if you have eaten you may want to leave time for your meal to go down).
There are a few tracks that leave the main path but don’t be tempted to follow any of them, stick to the main track and you will eventually come out at the top at a T junction, turn left here and follow the track across the top of the mountain (look out for views of the pre-alps to west and the lake to the east), you should see four pylons ahead of you and it is those you are heading for. You will go past a farm and through some beautiful woodland, until you eventually cross another path, bare left, you will come to a gate where you have to turn left again. When you reach
Map of the route
View Prandaglio Sentiero 504 in a larger map
the Memorial turn right here and follow the path up to the pylons. After going past two pylons you need to take the left turn up a concrete road. when you arrive at the gate of the last pylon you need to take the path down to the left.
This path will take you across the ridge of the mountain and you can enjoy spectacular view (I love this walk in the autumn when the colours are amazing. You will eventually arrive at the Madonna della Neve. The church was destroyed by the earthquake of 2004 but has been superbly restored, if it is open when you arrive it is definitely worth going inside (it is usually open Sunday mornings). There are picnic benches and a BBQ area so if you didn’t eat at Osteria you can refresh yourself whilst enjoying spectacular views before you head back down to your car.
To get back to your car you need to take the same track down from the church that you came up on. After 200m or so you will see the path fork next to a sign with a yellow warning triangle. The right path will take you back along the ridge you walked over earlier, the left will take you down to where you left your car. It is a fairly steep path in places but gets you down very quickly (20 t0 30 mins) to Peracque and your car.
This is a circular route so of course you can walk it in the opposite direction if you prefer.
We will walk this later this summer and test your route. Looking forward to it! X