La meraviglia dell'autunno in un'escursione nel Bosco delle Navette
In Provincia di Cuneo sono molti i luoghi dove è possibile ammirare lo spettacolo del foliage, il cambiamento della natura con l'arrivo dell'autunno, i colori caldi che assumono le foglie, le mille sfumature che colorano gli alberi nei boschi durante questa stagione. Uno di questi è senza dubbio il Bosco delle Navette in Valle Tanaro.
Indice dei contenuti
Il Bosco delle Navette
Il Bosco delle Navette è uno dei più grandi boschi di larice a sud delle Alpi, regno di camosci, caprioli, galli forcelli e, da qualche tempo, lupi.E’ un luogo splendido che ricopre per oltre 1000 ettari le pendici dei Monte Bertrand e Missun dove, all'ombra di larici ed abeti bianchi , si estendono tappeti di felci, mirtilli e rododendri rossi, tra cui fanno capolino in primavera numerose orchidee spontanee.
Piacevole in qualunque stagione, il Bosco delle Navette dà il meglio di sè in autunno, quando i suoi larici s'incendiano di sfumature giallo-oro.
Uno degli spettacoli più affascinanti delle Alpi Marittime.
Un tempo Riserva di caccia privata legata ai galliformi alpini, oggi è zona protetta del Parco delle Alpi Liguri e del Parco del Marguareis.
Un pò di storia
Lo staordinario ed immenso Bosco delle Navette non è solo spettacolare dal punto di vista naturalistico, ma è anche un luogo storico.Il suo nome deriva dallo sfruttamento che in passato fu fatto di questa foresta.
Fu, infatti, un'importante riserva di legname per la Repubblica di Genova che lo utilizzava per la costruzione di barche e navi.
Gli alti larici risultavano il materiale perfetto per gli alberti maestri della propria flotta navale.
Lo sfruttamento commerciale e i consistenti tagli durarono fino alla metà del secolo scorso quando si tramutò in riserva di caccia privata, mantenendo però in parte il suo ruolo di terre pascolate.
Il Bosco delle Navette era però conosciuto già nell'antichità, sicuramente in epoca romana vista la natura di alcuni ritrovamenti archeologici e la presenza, ai suoi margini della Via Marenca, percorso millenario che collegava Piemonte e Francia con la costa ligure
Con l'inserimento nell'area protetta, la foresta è tornata alla sua autenticità acquisendo la certificazione di bosco da seme nonostante, a causa del cambiamento climatico, i faggi stiano via via rimpiazzando gli abeti.
Dove siamo: Upega e la Valle Tanaro
Il Bosco delle Navette si trova appena sopra l'abitato di Upega, nell'alta Valle Tanaro.Ci troviamo in una zona a cavallo tra due regioni: il Piemonte e la Ligura, al cospetto delle Alpi Liguri, un ponte naturale tra la Provincia di Cuneo e quelle di Imeria e di Savona e importante punto di passaggio per scambi commerciali sin dall'epoca romana.
Attraversata dal Fiume Tanaro, da cui prende il nome, la Valle Tanaro è una valle ricca d'acqua con una grande biodiversità botanica, folti boschi e un caratteristico fenomeno carsico che la rendono una meta interessante per speleologi sempre alla ricerca di nuove grotte da esplorare.
Upega, ideale punto di partenza per un'escursione nel Bosco delle Navette, è una piccola frazione del comune di Briga Alta, un delizioso borgo montano posto a 1297 metri sul livello del mare sul confine tra la provincia d’Imperia e quella di Cuneo.
Terra di pastori e di montanari il borgo è costituito da poche tipiche case in pietra con balconi in legno intorno a cui si affacciano alte vette come la Cima del Vescovo, la Cima di Velaga e il Monte Bertrand.
Durante la Secondo Guerra Mondiale fu uno dei luoghi di rifugio di bande di partigiani e, nell’ottobre del 1944, fu teatro di un cruento rastrellamento dei nazifascisti.
Accesso al Bosco delle Navette
Per raggiungere il Bosco delle Navette in auto occorre percorrerela SP 154 che da Ponte di Nava conduce a Viozene e prosegue fino ad arrivare al piccolo borgo di Upega.E' possibile lasciare l'auto nel modesto parcheggio del paese o proseguire qualche metro in direzione Monesi fermandosi nello spiazzo dell'area picnic vicino alla bella chiesetta Madonna della Neve.
L'itinerario dell'escursione
Visto il suo carattere agro-pastorale il Bosco delle Navette è attraversato da innumerevoli sentieri.Per godere della sua bellezza e dello spettacolo del foliage noi abbiamo scelto un itinerario ad anello con partenza ed arrivo ad Upega che permette di addentrarsi nel folto del bosco e lasciarsi avvolgere dalla magia dei suoi colori.
Per poter ammirare il bosco da una posizione più elevata la meta intermedia sarà la Colla Rossa, una sella prativa a 2179 metri che offre un ampio panorama sulle Alpi Liguri ed il mare.
L'escursione parte dalla pista forestale che attraversa il prato sul lato sinistro della Chiesa della Madonna della Neve diventando ben presto un largo sentiero che si addentra presto e sempre in salita nel bosco.
Nella notte è scesa la neve e la maggiorparte dei larici ha perso ormai i suoi aghi dorati, ma lo spettacolo resta comunque magnifico.
Sfilando accanto agli altissimi fusti di larici il sentiero prosegue sempre in ininterrotta salita superando terrazzamento e tornanti e lasciando alla sinistra diramazioni che vanno verso il Colle delle Selle Vecchie.
La direzione da seguire è quella che indica Case dei Cacciatori e Poggio Lagone.
Giunti ad una piccola radura si tralascia una traccia che porta a Piano Formigola ed il sentiero permette di riprendere un attimo fiato prima di ricominciare a salire ripido nel fitto del lariceto.
Finalmente si arriva ad un più grande pianoro denominato Case dei Cacciatori (1836 metri) dove si trovano alcuni edifici, tra cui una baita in pietra di proprietà della famiglia di banchieri Galleani e dimora prediletta estiva annessa alla Riserva di caccia privata fino al 1971.
Tralasciate sulla destra le case, il sentiero affianca la recinzione della proprietà fino ad arrivare al lato opposto della radura dove una strada sterrata sale sulla destra fino ad incrociate l'ampia strada ex militare che collega il Colle di Tenda con Monesi.
Pochi passi e si giunge a Poggio Lagone colle e punto panoramico posto a 1897 metri d'altezza.
Già da qui è possibile intravedere due laghetti che occupano una conca in basso e che al momento tralasciamo per proseguire la salita verso Colla Rossa.
Si attraversa la strada di Monesi e si prende in salita il sentiero che segue il crinale sempre tra i larici.
Man mano che si procede il bosco diventa sempre più rado fino a che, svoltando a sinistra, se ne esce definitivamente.
Dopo aver superato in salita una zona prativa si raggiungono i ruderi di una casermetta a quota 2142 metri e, seguite le tacche rosse di una traccia tra praterie e ghiaie rossastre si arriva alla nostra meta: Colla Rossa (2172 m.).
Questo è un valico pianeggiante posto tra le cime del piramidale Monte Bertrand e del Monte Missun sul confine tra l'Italia e la Francia che deve il suo nome al colore rossastro delle rocce argillose che lo contraddistinguono.
Da qui la vista si apre sulle Alpi Marittime e le Alpi Liguri con le cime del Marguareis, del Mongioie, delle Saline, del Pizzo d’ Ormea fino a pingersi, nelle giornate limpidissime, verso il mare.
Volendo è possibile raggiungere una delle due vicine cime con una variante che richiede un'ulteriore ora di cammino.
Per tornare indietro si percorre lo stesso sentiero in discesa fino a Poggio Lagone da dove, attraversando l'ex miltare Limone-Monesi, si prende la traccia che scende verso i Laghetti di Poggio Lagone.
Dopo aver costeggiato dall'alto il lago si arriva ad una palina che indica il sentiero in discesa verso Upega. Prima di scendere vale la pena avvicinarsi allo specchio d'acqua, che nel nostro caso risulta gelato e circondato da neve e larici dorati, per vedere da vicino questo luogo così suggestivo.
La discesa, inizialmente dolce, avviene di nuovo in mezzo al bosco che, in questa porzione di territorio risulta meno esposto alla luce del sole e più umido.
Raggiunto Piano Formigola si tralascia la diramazione verso destra che torna alla Casa dei Cacciatori e si inizia a scendere ripidissimi a valle.
In questa parte dell'itinerario occorre prestare molta attenzione al fondo che potrebbe risultare scivoloso.
Dopo due ore si sbocca lungo la Strada Provinciale che porta a Monesi, un tornante di più su del punto di partenza iniziale.
Scheda tecnica dell'escursione
⚠️ Difficoltà: E
⏳ Durata totale: 6 ore
🧗♀️ Dislivello: quasi 900 metri
⇌ Lunghezza: circa 13 km
➡️ Punto di partenza e arrivo: Upega quota 1280 metri
⬅️ Punto di altitudine massima: Colla Rossa 2172 metri
🏠 Rifugi e/o bivacchi: La Porta del Sole a Upega 1280 metri
🛣️ Segnaletica: ATT fino a Poggio Lagone / A45 per la Colla e ritorno
📩 Scarica traccia: GPX Escursione nel Bosco delle Navette
All the wonder of autumn colors with an hike along the Navette Forest
In Cuneo Province
there are many places whereit is possible to admire the spectacle of the foliage, the change of nature with the arrival of autumn, the warm colors that the leaves take on, the thousand shades that the trees in the woods take on during this season.
One of these is undoubtedly the Navette Forest in the Tanaro Valley.
The Navette Forest is one of the largest larch forests south of the Alps, kingdom of chamois, roe deer, black grouse and, for a while, wolves.
It is a splendid place that covers over 1000 hectares on the slopes of Monte Bertrand and Monte Missun where, in the shade of larches and white firs, carpets of ferns, blueberries and red rhododendrons extend, among which numerous wild orchids peep out in spring.
Pleasant in any season, the Navette forest gives its best in autumn, when its larches burn with yellow-gold hues.
iIt is one of the most fascinating shows in the Maritime Alps.
Once a private hunting reserve linked to alpine galliformes, today it is a protected area of Ligurian Alps Park and Marguareis Park.
The extraordinary and immense Navette Forest is not only spectacular from a naturalistic point of view, but also as historical place.
Its name comes from the exploitation that was made of this wood in the past.
It was, in fact, an important timber reserve for the Republic of Genoa which used it for the construction of boats and ships.
The tall larch trees turned out to be the perfect material for the master masts of their naval fleet.
The commercial exploitation and the substantial cuts lasted until the middle of the last century when it was transformed into a private hunting reserve, however maintaining in part its role as grazed land.
However, the Navette Forest was already known in antiquity, certainly in Roman times, for the nature of some archaeological finds and the presence, on its edges of the Via Marenca, a millennial route that connected Piedmont and France with the Ligurian coast.
With the inclusion in the protected area, the forest has returned to its authenticity by acquiring the certification of seed forest despite the fact that, due to climate change, beech trees are gradually replacing fir trees.
The Navette Forest is located just above the village of Upega, in the upper Tanaro Valley.
This is an area between two regions: Piedmont and Liguria, in the presence of the Ligurian Alps, and is a natural bridge between the provinces of Cuneo and those of Imperia and Savona besides that an important crossing point for trade since Roman times.
Crossed by Tanaro River, from which it takes its name, the Tanaro Valley is in water with a great botanical biodiversity, thick woods and a characteristic karst phenomenon that make it an interesting destination for speleologists always looking for new caves to explore.
Upega, the ideal starting point for an hike in the Navette Forest, is a small hamlet of the municipality of Briga Alta, a delightful mountain village located at 1297 meters above sea level on the border between the provinces of Imperia and that of Cuneo.
A land of shepherds and mountaineers, the village consists of a few typical stone houses with wooden balconies overlooked by high peaks such as Cima del Vescovo, Cima di Velaga and Monte Bertrand.
During the Second World War it was one of the places of refuge for bands of partisans and, in October 1944, it was the scene of a bloody roundup by the Nazi-fascists.
To reach the Navette Forest by car, take the SP154 which from Ponte di Nava leads to Viozene and continues until you reach the small village of Upega.
It is possible to leave the car in the little parking in the village or continue a few meters towards Monesi, stopping in the clearing of the picnic area near the beautiful tiny Church of the Madonna della Neve.
Given its agro-pastoral character, the Navette Forest is crossed by innumerable paths.
To enjoy its beauty and the spectacle of the foliage, we have chosen a ring trail with departure and arrival in Upega which allow us to enter the thick of the forest and let ourself be enveloped by the magic of its colours.
To be able to admire the forest from a higher position, we choosed as intermediate destination the Colla Rossa , a grassy saddle at 2179 meters which offers a wide panorama of the Ligurian Alps and the sea.
The hike starts from the forest track that crosses the meadow on the left side of the Church of the Madonna della Neve that soon become a wide path that enters quickly and always uphill into the woods .
During the night it snowed and most of the larches now have lost their golden needles, but the show is still magnificent.
Parading next to the very tall larch trees, the path continues in an uninterrupted climb, passing terraces and hairpin bends and leaving branches on the left that go towards the Colle delle Selle Vecchie.
The direction to follow is the one that indicates Case dei Cacciatori and Poggio Lagone.
Once you reach a small clearing, leave the track that leads to Piano Formigola and catch your breath for a moment before starting to climb steeply again in the thick larch wood.
Finally you will arrive at a larger plateau called Case dei Cacciatori (1836 metres) where there are some buildings, including a stone hut owned by the Galleani banking family that was the favorite summer residence annexed to the private hunting reserve until 1971.
Ignoring the houses on the right, the path runs alongside the fence of the property until it reaches the opposite side of the clearing where a dirt road climbs up on the right as long as crosses the wide ex-military road that connects Colle di Tenda with Monesi.
A few steps and you will reach Poggio Lagone, hill and panoramic point at 1897 meters above sea level.
From here it is possible to glimpse two small lakes which occupy a basin below and which we are omitting for the moment to continue the ascent towards Colla Rossa.
Cross the Monesi road and take the path uphill that follows the ridge, still among the larches.
As we proceed, the wood becomes more and more sparse until we finally leave it by turning left.
After having passed a grassy area uphill, we reach the ruins of a small barracks at an altitude of 2142 meters and, following the red notches of a track between prairies and reddish gravel, we arrive at our destination: Colla Rossa (2172 m.).
This is a flat pass located between the tops of the pyramidal Mount Bertrand and Mount Missun on the border between Italy and France which owes its name to the reddish color of the clayey rocks that distinguish it.
From here the view opens onto the Maritime Alps and the Ligurian Alps with the peaks of Marguareis, Mongioie, Saline, Pizzo d'Ormea until reaching, on very clear days, towards the sea.
If desired, it is possible to reach one of the two nearby peaks with a variant that requires a further hour of walking.
To go back, take the same path downhill to Poggio Lagone from where, crossing the former Limone-Monesi military, take the track that descends towards the Poggio Lagone Lakes .
In reality only the larger of the two is always evident, the other forms only after heavy rainfall and is connected to the big one by a narrow channel.
After skirting the lake from above, we come to a signpost that indicates the downhill path towards Upega . Before descending, it is worth approaching the body of water, which in our case was frozen and surrounded by snow and golden larches, to see this evocative place up close.
The descent, initially gentle, takes place again in the middle of the wood which, in this portion of the territory, is less exposed to sunlight and more humid.
Reached Piano Formigola ignore the branch to the right which returns to Casa dei Cacciatori and begin to descend very steeply to the valley.
In this part of the itinerary it is necessary to pay close attention to the bottom which could be slippery.
After two hours you come out along the provincial road that leads to Monesi, one hairpin bend higher than the initial starting point.
Il termine dell'escursione
The Navette Forest is one of the largest larch forests south of the Alps, kingdom of chamois, roe deer, black grouse and, for a while, wolves.
It is a splendid place that covers over 1000 hectares on the slopes of Monte Bertrand and Monte Missun where, in the shade of larches and white firs, carpets of ferns, blueberries and red rhododendrons extend, among which numerous wild orchids peep out in spring.
Pleasant in any season, the Navette forest gives its best in autumn, when its larches burn with yellow-gold hues.
iIt is one of the most fascinating shows in the Maritime Alps.
Once a private hunting reserve linked to alpine galliformes, today it is a protected area of Ligurian Alps Park and Marguareis Park.
The extraordinary and immense Navette Forest is not only spectacular from a naturalistic point of view, but also as historical place.
Its name comes from the exploitation that was made of this wood in the past.
It was, in fact, an important timber reserve for the Republic of Genoa which used it for the construction of boats and ships.
The tall larch trees turned out to be the perfect material for the master masts of their naval fleet.
The commercial exploitation and the substantial cuts lasted until the middle of the last century when it was transformed into a private hunting reserve, however maintaining in part its role as grazed land.
However, the Navette Forest was already known in antiquity, certainly in Roman times, for the nature of some archaeological finds and the presence, on its edges of the Via Marenca, a millennial route that connected Piedmont and France with the Ligurian coast.
With the inclusion in the protected area, the forest has returned to its authenticity by acquiring the certification of seed forest despite the fact that, due to climate change, beech trees are gradually replacing fir trees.
The Navette Forest is located just above the village of Upega, in the upper Tanaro Valley.
This is an area between two regions: Piedmont and Liguria, in the presence of the Ligurian Alps, and is a natural bridge between the provinces of Cuneo and those of Imperia and Savona besides that an important crossing point for trade since Roman times.
Crossed by Tanaro River, from which it takes its name, the Tanaro Valley is in water with a great botanical biodiversity, thick woods and a characteristic karst phenomenon that make it an interesting destination for speleologists always looking for new caves to explore.
Upega, the ideal starting point for an hike in the Navette Forest, is a small hamlet of the municipality of Briga Alta, a delightful mountain village located at 1297 meters above sea level on the border between the provinces of Imperia and that of Cuneo.
A land of shepherds and mountaineers, the village consists of a few typical stone houses with wooden balconies overlooked by high peaks such as Cima del Vescovo, Cima di Velaga and Monte Bertrand.
During the Second World War it was one of the places of refuge for bands of partisans and, in October 1944, it was the scene of a bloody roundup by the Nazi-fascists.
To reach the Navette Forest by car, take the SP154 which from Ponte di Nava leads to Viozene and continues until you reach the small village of Upega.
It is possible to leave the car in the little parking in the village or continue a few meters towards Monesi, stopping in the clearing of the picnic area near the beautiful tiny Church of the Madonna della Neve.
Given its agro-pastoral character, the Navette Forest is crossed by innumerable paths.
To enjoy its beauty and the spectacle of the foliage, we have chosen a ring trail with departure and arrival in Upega which allow us to enter the thick of the forest and let ourself be enveloped by the magic of its colours.
To be able to admire the forest from a higher position, we choosed as intermediate destination the Colla Rossa , a grassy saddle at 2179 meters which offers a wide panorama of the Ligurian Alps and the sea.
The hike starts from the forest track that crosses the meadow on the left side of the Church of the Madonna della Neve that soon become a wide path that enters quickly and always uphill into the woods .
During the night it snowed and most of the larches now have lost their golden needles, but the show is still magnificent.
Parading next to the very tall larch trees, the path continues in an uninterrupted climb, passing terraces and hairpin bends and leaving branches on the left that go towards the Colle delle Selle Vecchie.
The direction to follow is the one that indicates Case dei Cacciatori and Poggio Lagone.
Once you reach a small clearing, leave the track that leads to Piano Formigola and catch your breath for a moment before starting to climb steeply again in the thick larch wood.
Finally you will arrive at a larger plateau called Case dei Cacciatori (1836 metres) where there are some buildings, including a stone hut owned by the Galleani banking family that was the favorite summer residence annexed to the private hunting reserve until 1971.
Ignoring the houses on the right, the path runs alongside the fence of the property until it reaches the opposite side of the clearing where a dirt road climbs up on the right as long as crosses the wide ex-military road that connects Colle di Tenda with Monesi.
A few steps and you will reach Poggio Lagone, hill and panoramic point at 1897 meters above sea level.
From here it is possible to glimpse two small lakes which occupy a basin below and which we are omitting for the moment to continue the ascent towards Colla Rossa.
Cross the Monesi road and take the path uphill that follows the ridge, still among the larches.
As we proceed, the wood becomes more and more sparse until we finally leave it by turning left.
After having passed a grassy area uphill, we reach the ruins of a small barracks at an altitude of 2142 meters and, following the red notches of a track between prairies and reddish gravel, we arrive at our destination: Colla Rossa (2172 m.).
This is a flat pass located between the tops of the pyramidal Mount Bertrand and Mount Missun on the border between Italy and France which owes its name to the reddish color of the clayey rocks that distinguish it.
From here the view opens onto the Maritime Alps and the Ligurian Alps with the peaks of Marguareis, Mongioie, Saline, Pizzo d'Ormea until reaching, on very clear days, towards the sea.
If desired, it is possible to reach one of the two nearby peaks with a variant that requires a further hour of walking.
To go back, take the same path downhill to Poggio Lagone from where, crossing the former Limone-Monesi military, take the track that descends towards the Poggio Lagone Lakes .
In reality only the larger of the two is always evident, the other forms only after heavy rainfall and is connected to the big one by a narrow channel.
After skirting the lake from above, we come to a signpost that indicates the downhill path towards Upega . Before descending, it is worth approaching the body of water, which in our case was frozen and surrounded by snow and golden larches, to see this evocative place up close.
The descent, initially gentle, takes place again in the middle of the wood which, in this portion of the territory, is less exposed to sunlight and more humid.
Reached Piano Formigola ignore the branch to the right which returns to Casa dei Cacciatori and begin to descend very steeply to the valley.
In this part of the itinerary it is necessary to pay close attention to the bottom which could be slippery.
After two hours you come out along the provincial road that leads to Monesi, one hairpin bend higher than the initial starting point.
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