At the Santuario della Guardia for the ex-tramway road
The starting point is Bolzaneto. From here (50 m), continue north for about 500 m to the Ponte del Serro crossroads. Turn left and after a short distance take the road to Scuole di S. Biagio, which begins with a steep incline and continues for a kilometre. At km 3 the surface improves and after a short descent the slope constantly rises until km 4.5 where it once again evens out as it enters the village of Gaiazza. Continue for one hundred metres to the north. Then to the right of a small bar the real, unpaved cycle track marked by a sign (km 4,600) begins. We begin with 500 metres in the woods, we cross the asphalted road and, with a second unpaved stretch we reach the village of Sareto (400 m), where a flat, 500-m asphalted straight road (via Sareto) leads us to an unpaved rest area with tables and swings, called Pilastrino? because of a pillar marking the start of the Fie trail (two red stamps) for the Sanctuary. We continue straight, in the direction of a white and black rail (km 6,200) which marks the start of a 13-station athletic course. We begin to go uphill, following the tramway track (Guidovia) which includes the Arpexella and Cà Bianca tunnels (before which there is an aerial passage on a suspended artificial curve). The gradient is constant. At km 10.750 we reach the Poggio dell?Incisa (Incisa knoll, 740 m) and after a short distance we reach the crossroads with the Provincial road which goes up from Bolzaneto (770 m). We turn left for the last 450 metres of flagging (16% gradient) which brings to the Sanctuary, at an altitude of 805 m (km 11,700). From here we can enjoy the panorama of the surrounding valleys. The descent: from the fountain just below the square, we take the trail descending to the right which, after 300 m, intersects with the road going up to the Poggio dell?Incisa (740 m). We descend for another 100 metres and we reach the old asphalt Trattoria del Bossaro road (657 m) until the next rest area on the right identified by a no-thoroughfare sign (km 0.850). We continue down to the right on the trail and what remains of an old asphalt road for about 100 metres, until the intersection with an unpaved road that comes up on the left (600 m). We take it, turning right and following the main road to km 2,600, we intersect the uphill ?tramway road? in the village of Panigone (492 m). We turn left and we are on the same route that we took up, but in the other direction, to the village of Gaiazza (328 m), where we reach km 5.200. We go down the road we took on the way up and at km 7.450 we take Via San Biagio di Val Polcevera (195 m) to the right, an alternative road that descends amid the little houses of the new village until Bolzaneto.
Exit from the A7 Genoa-Milan Motorway at Bolzaneto, then go north for about 500 m. and cross the river overpass.
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Length: 21,4 km
Difficulty: E
Altitude: max. 805 m
Dirt road: yes Time necessary: 2 hours
Recommended season: all
Difference in level: max. 750 m
Ospitality in this area:
Stages of other paths