The route runs along what was the most important road to Monte Bisbino until the construction of the military road during the Great War. Wide, regular and for long stretches still characterised by its stone foundations, it climbs the slopes of the mountain, at first ascending the sunny slope behind Rovenna (440 m), amidst vast ronchi hidden by the forest, then entering the wooded Colletta Valley and finally gaining the open summit surmounted by the Sanctuary of the Madonna del Bisbino (1,325 m). The beauty of the route, the changing landscapes, first coastal and then mountainous, the succession of rural hamlets, including Madrona and Piella, the panoramic views and the Marian sanctuary complex gathered on the summit of the mountain are the elements of interest of this route, easy but requiring a minimum of training.
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From Rovenna to Monte Bisbino
along the road to Madrona, S. Carlo and Piella
Place of departure: Rovenna (m 440)
Walking time: about 3,00 hrs
Height difference in ascent: m 885 approx
Maximum altitude: m 1.325 (peak of mount Bisbino)
Difficulty: E (hiking)
The itinerary starts from Rovenna (441m), a hamlet of Cernobbio located on a panoramic plateau on the southern slopes of the orographic system culminating in the summit of Monte Bisbino.
From the car park between the parish church and the cemetery (signposted), head west towards the historic centre. Along Via Umberto I you have a flat, level walk , touching the Curt del Pièla and Piazza Fontana (fountain), and then slightly uphill you reach a crossroads, in the locality of Farégul. Here you go right, towards Monte Bisbino (stone memorial stone and signposts) and along Via dei Monti Lariani, following what was the most important route through the mountains of Cernobbio until the construction of the Monte Bisbino military road, now a municipal road. Alternatively, at the beginning of Via Umberto I, near the Ossuary Chapel and the fountain, take Via Segantini to the right and join the old mule track further up.
The road leaves the built-up area, soon showing its original stone surface, and crosses a terraced area, whose cultivated stretches are now the vestiges of once vast forms of use and landscapes, here and throughout the Lario. Skirting the hairpin bends of the Bisbino Road a couple of times and enjoying beautiful views of Rovenna and the lake, we reach Monti di Scarone (596m), one of the many ‘mountains’ on which the enjoyment of the middle Cernobbio mountains was based in the past. The trail climbs gradually, with a few hairpin bends, touching the disused huts of Cà de Culzaga and then, after a sharp bend to the north, the Monti di Madrona, served by the road that climbs from Rovenna (834m). A short digression to the right (signposts) leads to the Belvedere, a panoramic viewpoint over Rovenna, the Lario, Como and the Po Valley.
Now follow the asphalt of the former military road to the left, as far as the first hairpin bend, where at Monti del Cücch it gives way to the old mule track, here paved with large slabs taken from the site. These stones, and most of those forming the terraces and walls of the old huts, and still covering some roofs, belong to the Moltrasio limestone formation, the most widespread rock in the area.
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Continuing on a gradual ascent, in a forest where beech trees appear, we pass the Chapel of S. Carlo and again cross the road to Bisbino. Cross it to Alpe Piella (1,130 m), now at the apex of the Colletta valley, above which the Via dei Monti Lariani (signpost 1) remains to the right. We now traverse a spruce forest planted where there once were summit pastures, the grasslands of the Bisbino “alps”, on a track that after several crossings of the road becomes a simple path. So, amidst beautiful views, we arrive at the watershed, near Villa Lejnati-Perti, which we climb again, still on the path, touching a hairpin bend of the cart road and then reaching its junction. We are now in sight of the Sanctuary of the Madonna del Bisbino, on the summit of the mountain of the same name (1,325 m), which we soon reach along the steps. The many points of interest offered by this summit are accompanied by incredible views and the possibility of pleasant refreshment at the small refuge.
