12 - Poranceto - Boccadirio

This is a day of walking almost entirely in the woods, with some stretches on minor roads.

Alta Via dei Parchi

• Departure: Poranceto (890m)
• Arrival: Boccadirio (719m)
• Duration: 5 hour/s 30 minutes
• Length: 17.9 km
• Difference in height: Uphill 640m - Downhill 810m
• Lap no.12 of Alta Via dei Parchi
• Accommodation: Locanda del Pellegrino

From Poranceto there is a brief ascent, then the trail remains high above the Brasimone basin at the edges of meadows offering beautiful views of the lake up to the dam. After crossing it, take the trail coming up from Castiglione dei Pepoli. Past the Enea facilities, one encounters Pian Colorè, with a spring surrounded by large beeches. From here the route heads east, down to the valley of the Montecucco gap. After the houses of Spinareccia, continue among the chestnut woods to Storaia and the nearby road leading to the Montepiano Pass. Once having gone down to the bridge on river Setta, one goes up again, towards Mount Tavianella, along the road that touches the forest nursery of Cottede, at the center of the vast reforestations that cover the valley of the Fosso delle Mesole. At the entrance of the nursery, one takes the path that climbs steeply up until meeting the dirt road that runs alongside Mount Coroncina, and goes on to the crossing with the road that climbs from Baragazza to Valli, in this manner soon arriving at Valli. From the lower part of the built-up area the trail resolutely enters the woods, skirting the steep northern slopes of Mount Tavianella before descending into the small but rough valley where the Rio Davena rises. Shortly afterwards, at the confluence of two streams, one finds the vast complex of the Marian Sanctuary of Boccadirio, which was built on the site of an apparition that occurred in 1480.