Sunday 12 April, third stage of the “Great Crossing of Valceno”. Starting from loc. Galla, the arrival destination of our second stage, and in conjunction with the mouth of the cenedola stream, which divides the lower from the upper Valceno on the west side of the same, we will take the pass of M. Craviago, which divides the Municipality of Varsi (PR) from that of Bore (PR).
We are once again on stretches of the ancient Via Marialonga, a ridge road leading to Forum Novum (today’s Fornovo Taro), a Roman town with Segesta Tigulliorum (today’s Sestri) in Roman times was a very important commercial port of the Empire.
A road that connected the most important Roman municipalities, favoring the exchange of goods from the sea at the time of the empire and later used by pilgrims on their way to Rome.
We will then walk along the ridge that divides Valceno from Valcenedola, leaving the last hilly stretch, within a very short time we will reach the mountain belt on high-altitude meadows, between slight ups and downs, we will first cross the summit of M. Bellagama, then that of M. Pratobello, where on its summit stands a cross and a monument, This too is a sign of the passage of the reprisal against the resistance, active in these mountains during the Second World War. After the summit of Mount Pratobello, the ridge continues decisively above 1200 meters above sea level, until it reaches the highest peak of this route, Mount Carameto (1320m), considered one of the 300 most beautiful viewpoints in Italy by the Military Geographic Institute (IGM).
From here, in fact, we will be able to enjoy a 360-degree view of the entire Valceno, the Val d’Arda and the Po Valley, up to a glimpse of much of the Alps.
On the summit of Mount Carameto, we will have our lunch and then leave on the summit meadows, we will then begin the descent that will take us through a centuries-old beech forest to the Pellizzione pass (1021m) on the border between Parma and Piacenza, a pass of considerable importance, grafting precisely for the Via Maria Longa, but from which an important variant of the Via Francigena also passed.
Once we reach the Pellizzone pass we will have a bus waiting for us to take us back to the starting point.
Meeting punctual at 8.30 a.m. at Bar Restaurant Pizzeria Valceno Via Provinciale, 136, 43040 Varano de’ Melegari PR
Reservation required: 18 € adults; 10 € children and young people up to 17 years of age accompanied.
Estimated cost for return by bus € 15 to be defined at the time of booking.
For more information and reservations: https://www.trekkingtaroceno.it/grande-traversata-della-valceno-2026-3-tappa-dalla-foce-del-cenedola-al-passo-pellizzone/
