FT1 - The Trail among the Vineyards Cultivated with the Ancient "maggiorina" Method
- Trail Conditions: On foot
- Duration: 4 hour/s 30 minutes
- Difficulty Level: T / E
- Difference in height: 300m
From the large municipal car park in via Dante, climb towards the town of Maggiora. From Antonelli square, follow the narrow via Don Minzoni towards the Town Hall in piazza Caduti, the town center. Turn left in via Gattico, touching the house where Antonelli was born (brickwork building) and continue downhill along via Colombo and then, on the right, take via Magistrini. From here, immediately before the downhill trail, take the dirt road that leads in front of the cemetery situated on gentle hills covered with meadows. Behind the Antonelliano-style cemetery housing the Antonelli's family tomb (as we have already mentioned, Maggiora is the hometown of architect Antonelli), turn right on an asphalt road and reach Madonna dell'Addolorata Church.
Turning right twice, you will be out of the town and, after neglecting all the possible detours, take the large and easy dirt road. Go beyond Miniera Palazzina and continue in the cultivated countryside, where you will see the first vineyards, until you reach a brickwork bridge leading into the woodland. The itinerary develops across a shady and cool valley which, after crossing the brook, is characterized by the presence of several hairpin bends delimited by well-preserved dry-stone walls surrounded by a pleasant chestnut grove. Climb with a regular difference in height until you reach a young vineyard; here it is recommended to abandon the trail for a moment and enter the vineyard, to enjoy the beautiful panorama on the plain. After returning to the trail, at the following crossroads the road becomes wider. Here, on the left, take the trail developing in the woodland.
At the following widening, take the trail climbing on the hill among birches and chestnut trees; after meeting a hut, the vegetation becomes more sparse. Follow the trail climbing rather steep to the ridge, where you will turn right. At the following junction, abandon trail no. 778 and continue along the ridge towards La Pelosa (658m asl), a big naked rock situated in an extremely panoramic point: the view goes from Fenera Park, with Motto della Capretta and Traversagna area, to Borgomanerese area and Lombardy.
Then go down and, once you meet again the outward trail, go straight ahead along a rather demanding trail until you go back in the woodland, from where you will go out through a wooden gate. You will find yourself in a young vineyard surrounded by the woodland and, after a few meters, a second gate will lead you again in the woodland where you take, uphill, the most evident trail with stairs made of wooden trunks. The trail is characterized here by slight ups and downs, until you go beyond another gate leading to a vineyard cultivated according to the ancient method "a maggiorina"; continue downhill among the large vineyard rows, following the trail markers FT1.
Once you reach the cycle facility above loc. Montalbano, turn right. After a first stretch of woodland, with asphalt where the slope is higher, you will find a renovated hut surrounded by vineyards. The dirt cycle facility turns right into the well-kept rows and continues downhill with a few hairpin bends leading to Boca Sanctuary.
Behind the imposing Antonelliano-style building, take another cycle facility, also indicated by the trail markers of Fenera Park, leading towards Prato Sesia. Climb at first again among the vineyards and, at the junction, turn left towards Boca. Continue until you meet the SP road no. 32 of Traversagna, where you turn right; shortly after, near the cemetery of Boca, take, on the left, the road to Montalbano. After crossing torrent Strona, turn right in via Moscatelli, a flat dirt road leading to Cascina Conelli where, keeping the left, you will go down to the ford on Rio delle Pile, practicable all year round.
After the ford, keep the right; at the following crossroads, turn right and, immediately after, left, entering again the woodland towards Maggiora. Continue along the large and easy main trail, first slightly uphill and then slightly downhill, until you reach the asphalt road you already know: if you turn right, you will find yourself near the cemetery of Maggiora, from where you can shortly go back to the departure point.
