Val Boreca is a small valley formed by the Boreca stream, a tributary of the Trebbia, located in the heart of the Four Provinces.
- It is bordered to the north by the Staffora valley (Lombardy),
- to the west with the Val Borbera (Piedmont),
- to the south with the upper Trebbia valley (Liguria),
- to the east again with the Trebbia valley (Emilia-Romagna).
The Val Boreca represents, with its fifty-one square kilometers, the largest sub-basin of the Trebbia valley, after that, of course, of the Aveto which remains unchallenged, the most important tributary.
The environment of the valley is one of the most pristine of the whole Apennines, also as a result of the depopulation that occurred over the years that led to the abandonment of the small villages scattered in the valley, as well as due to the natural conformation of the area, dominated by a steep and deep structure, not at all softened by glacial erosion of which there is no trace.
The main center of the valley is the small town of Zerba, which was settled by Ligurian tribes who long opposed the Roman penetration. Unfortunately, only a few remains remain of the ancient Malaspina Castle.
Everywhere chestnut and beech woods, oak and hornbeam, as well as wide meadows dominated by the peaks of the Lesima and Alpheus mountains, reachable through paths that climb from Ottone and Zerba, to discover the protected flora and traces of roe deer and wolves; the valley winds impervious and solitary around the Boreca stream, on the right the small villages of Tartago, Belnome up to Pizzonero with their rural architecture; on the left the Municipality of Zerba with the Malaspina tower and the suggestive provincial road that leads to Pey and the border of the Four Provinces.
Val Boreca is also a hunting area, thanks to the proliferation of wild boars, and is ideal for collecting mushrooms and chestnuts.
