Departure from Cavagnano, a small hamlet of Cuasso al Monte. In these places you can still breathe the air of the past, the houses are mostly made of stone and there is no trace of the “city” with condominiums and huge buildings. The space is filled with many small historic houses that animate the pedestrian center of the village.
Cavagnano, in its own small way, follows the same principles.
The two villages are the perfect starting point for excursions inside the Park of the 5 Vette.
Up to the church of Cavagnano you can start the excursion in the park.
Going up to the left after a while, near a fountain, we leave the cobblestones of the village to enter the path that climbs into the woods.
The trail is almost all like this in the fall, with a light blanket of leaves enveloping every step.
The first nice place to stop for a few photos is Imborgnana, 3/4 houses well kept always in brick style, where it will be easy to find some woodcutters.
The path then continues to the hospital, where it may seem strange, but the path passes right through the middle of it.
In the interior of the hospital that seemed to be in disuse, it almost seems to relive a scene of the “master of thrills” Hitchcock in the famous Psyco, for that deafening silence that surrounds us between those buildings now abandoned.
The trail continues as it exits to the north and climbs up the path surrounded by beech and chestnut trees. The colors of autumn pervade all the surrounding nature at this time.
After a few hairpin bends and a slight climb, you come to a junction located about in the middle of the park that allows you to reach many of the main places within it. Continuing on the left you can reach Mount Piambello (highest point of the park) from which the view is suggestive because on a clear day you can see both Lake Lugano and Monte Rosa on the other side.
Descending on the continuation of the path you arrive at Sass Boll, a huge boulder that has been made an attraction for its shape and position.
By retracing your steps for a while, you can go back down into the valley and pass by two Bocchette (the one of the friars and the one of the Stivioni). In these areas pay close attention because the red and white signs are not very precise and could often mislead you.
The last part that leads to the Sasso Paradiso is perhaps the most beautiful because it combines the spectacle of nature and the historical and cultural Cadorna Line overlooking Lake Lugano.
From Sasso Paradiso, whose name suggests what kind of view is waiting for you, you can go back to Cavagnano. Not before passing through one of the many sections of the Cadorna Line, the last stretch of which is still entirely passable and would give many people goose bumps.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oK3-zQVzlqI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEw2dgKjn1M
Returning from there to Cavagnano is only a matter of an easy descent in the woods and the last 150 meters of difference in height.
Trail Type: dirt road, small asphalt stretches
Water: present only in the village
