hike to sass malò and pieve of san martino

WARNING: trekking is not like walking! If you can't overcome a passage, go back!
Some of the tracks presented here are set along mountain trails where some passages may require holding to ropes or climbing short ladders, and may have exposed passages without safety protections. These tracts can be a serious danger if faced without the right equipment, awareness and physical condition.
ITINERARIUM® has no responsibility regarding the tracks presented here, their dangerousness, accessibility, praticability and safety. Who decides to take these tracks does it at their own risk.

Discovering ancient ruins among chestnut woods

Colline Novaresi

Download GPX track

Length:
11.5 Km

Our time:
3h30' walking
1h30' in MTB

Total climb:
120 mt

Min and max height:
330 mt - 390 mt

Type of track:
ring track

Surface:
dirt road - trail - asphalt road

Panorama:
woods - glacial erratic - old church

Cell network coverage:
excellent

Traced in winter:
yes

Traced by bike:
yes

This track goes along the trails in the woods of Gattico town.
After a short walk on the asphalt road, usually with little traffic, it reaches the Sant’Andrea’s oratory, built close to what used to be the “castellaccio” fort. The fort can not be visited, since it’s now part of a private building, but its stone apse is still intact and can be seen from the trail.
The track keeps going on among the woods towards Pieve of San Martino, a charming ruin of a plebs church. The church was abandoned after it was damaged, probably by a fire. Some of its stones were used in 1630 to build the steeple of San Cosma’s church in Damiano.
In front of the Pieve there’s a picnic area set up with tables.
The track proceeds by crossing the road to reach the trail in the woods until Sass Malò (Malò stone), a huge glacial erratic. It’s a suggestive place, a strong heritage of the natural events that were part of these areas. These gigantic blocks of stone, also called “witches’ stones”, were carried to the valley floor by glaciers that, by receding, left these huge debris along the Alps’ arc.
Legends say that under that “cursed stone” there’s the den of the “mangia matài” (the child eater witch).