Stage 05: From Castagneto to Succiso Nuovo

Comfortable stage both in terms of duration and variations in gradient, perfect for recovering from the efforts of the previous day, on a path without difficulty, well-defined and well-marked. You pass through small villages, meadows and coppice woods and meet several easy fords, with wide views of the high Val d'Enza, now in the presence of the imposing peaks of the high Apennines, including those of the Casarola-Alpe di Succiso group.

Notes

• Potable water can be found in Fornolo and Succiso Superiore (e.g. fountains)
• Slight difficulty in orienting immediately after Succiso Superiore (along a cultivated area)

Description of the stage

Leaving the town of Castagneto, take a stretch of paved road for about 800 m and take the SD on the left, immediately uphill. Continue for slight ups and downs, until you pass above the village of Lugolo. Continue along a beautiful cart track up to an altitude of 821 meters. Then go down to the right and, after passing a stone building, reach the conglomerate of the former Mulino Adani and then Ponte Andrella (650 m). From the bridge, with a short stretch on asphalt, immediately after it, resume on the left the SD and uphill reach the hamlet of Fornolo (810 m). Then, continue slightly uphill for about 2 km, until you reach a sort of saddle (1000 meters), near a rural building with rustic poems written on the walls. Paying attention to several crossroads, keeping to the right and following the signs of the SD, downhill, you will get to the characteristic village of Succiso Superiore (970 m). Afterwards proceed for about 1 hour, in a very suggestive landscape among meadows, woods and rocky outcrops, until you reach the road that descends from Passo della Scalucchia; here turn right on asphalt up to Succiso Nuovo (1000 meters), the destination of our stage, on the slopes of Alpe di Succiso. Slight difficulty in orienting immediately after Succiso Superiore (along a cultivated area).

Detour

From Fornolo it is worthwhile, given the easy stage, to take a short detour of 30 minutes and reach the ancient rural church Pieve di San Vincenzo, with its adjoining bell tower. Probably built by the Countess Matilde around 1090, the Pieve was then rebuilt in a false Romanesque style, but still retains a fragment of a capital and a baptismal font.

Useful Info

• Ponte Andrella: A hundred meters to the right, on the SP 15, you can reach a refreshment point with a bar, a restaurant and tent places.
• Succiso Superiore: Here the history tells us of two tragic events in the three hamlets of Succiso (Inferiore, di Mezzo and Superiore): in 1920 an earthquake and in 1954 a landslide. Following this last calamity, the villages were abandoned and the inhabitants moved to the new town of Varviglia, now Succiso Nuovo.
• Succiso Nuova: possibility of accommodation and catering at the famous “La Valle dei Cavalieri” farmhouse.

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