Sentiero del Castello – the orange path

The coloured trails are the result of a project to restore abandoned paths in the municipality of Colere, carried out by the local Alpini group. Many secondary routes that are not, or only partially, included in the classification of the CAI (Italian Alpine Club) have been restored, enhanced, and marked with different colours. Traditionally they were used for gathering mushrooms, firewood, forest litter, and small berries; today they represent a traditional heritage that keeps the historical memory of the community alive.

Starting point:

The route starts from the locality of Carbonera, close to the historic Ecomuseo delle Miniere. You can park here.

Route:

The Castello Trail, also called the Orange Trail, is the one that most combines nature with local culture. It begins at the Mining Ecomuseum, which showcases everything related to the old mines of the Presolana, closed permanently at the end of the 1970s.

The first section of the route is like a small track with a gentle uphill slope that winds through a dense forest of fir and beech trees up to Pian di Vione, where a spectacular natural amphitheatre opens between the towering rock walls of the Presolana.

At this point, instead of following the signs for Rifugio Albani, keep the path that turns left, which with a short climb takes you to the Fontane area. From there you descend significantly before beginning a long flat section through the forest.

Continue straight to the “Cascina del Chichì”, located above the settlement of Grana; occasionally the forest opens up, offering beautiful views of Pizzo Camino and the vast fir forest below.

After about one hundred metres, at a tiny pool called “Il Pozzo di Issa”, the descent begins that in a few minutes leads to “Cascina dei Suliff” and then to the hamlet of Valle Richetti. A few hundred metres more and you reach the final destination in Castello hamlet.