Caslino d’Erba is a small village in the province of Como, not far from Canzo considered the last village of Brianza and starting point for many excursions in the mountains of the famous “Larian Triangle”.
From Caslino d’Erba you can go up westwards towards the first mountains, which allow you to enjoy a panoramic view of Lake Como.
We can park in Piazza Mazzini and from there continue towards the upper part of the village, coincidentally (or maybe not) towards via Monte Palanzone.
We immediately meet a fork that reminds us that we can also go in the direction of Capanna Mara on the left, but for this excursion we proceed straight following the Bocchetta di Palanzo and immediately afterwards Monte Palanzone.
The first part, about 2 km, is on an asphalted road, while then the mountain path begins.
The whole section of the trail is easy to walk, the ascent is gradual and every view is particular and in autumn days lends itself particularly well to the foliage effect along much of the stretch.
It’s important to always keep to path number 5, but you can’t go wrong because that’s all there is.
What if we then named this after the “Trail of Smiles”? The reason? Easy to understand by looking at the next picture.
Once you’ve completed the path in the middle of the woods, you come out at the Bocchetta di Palanzo, from which the final ascent to Mount Palanzone begins.
Ready for the view at the top? But the one you are leaving behind is not bad anyway.
The last few hundred meters before the final 1400 meters of Mount Palanzone from which you can enjoy, on sunny days, an incredible view up to the highest and most famous Aosta Valley mountains, such as Monte Rosa and Cervino.
We leave you with a taste of what you can enjoy from up here, for the rest I would say that you can drop in.
For the return you can make a small loop continuing on the ridge and descending on the other side and then return from the main path passing through the Rifugio Riella that is just below.
Route typology: asphalt and mountain path
Water: a fountain down in the village and then nothing for the whole route
