Cerreto Laghi, two and a half kilometers east of the important homonymous pass (the SS 63 continues descending into Lunigiana, for Sassalbo, Fivizzano, Aulla and La Spezia), is one of the most important and equipped winter and summer tourist resorts of the entire Apennine ridge.
It is located in a basin of glacial origin under Mount La Nuda.
The tourist center has developed around a system of lakes formed in geological age by the decay of ancient glaciers. The best known of these bodies of water is Lake Cerretano, downstream of which we meet the lakes Scuro, Le Gore and Pranda (the latter artificial).
Already in the 50s the first ski lifts and accommodation facilities were built which, over the years, expanded, thus constituting today’s winter tourism resort (5 chairlifts, 3 ski lifts, 25 km of slopes for downhill, 5 km for cross-country skiing, artificial snow systems, ice rink with 2000 seats, hotel accommodation for 600 beds).
In addition to skiing, the main sporting activity, in Cerreto Laghi there is the possibility in the summer season to go hiking, horseback riding or mountain biking along tracks that lead to the highest peaks of the Parco del Gigante, offering splendid views towards the valleys below.
Historical information. Throughout the Middle Ages the area where Cerreto Laghi now stands constituted a very decentralized area, probably the object of sporadic frequentation. It was only from the XVI-XVII centuries, during the Este period, that, given the presence of vast woods, an ironworks was built in the underlying Riarbero valley, where the mineral transported here from Tuscany was processed.
For a long time the whole area of Cerreto was mainly frequented by charcoal burners who, going up from the Tuscan side (and in particular from the Sassalbo area), went seasonally to exploit the beech forests to produce charcoal, which was then marketed in Liguria and in the Po Valley.
It was only in the 50s that the Cerreto Laghi station was born. (G. Cervi, P. G. Oliveti 1997).
