Neirone - Faggio rotondo - Monte Caucaso - Corsiglia - Neirone

this is a circular trail to climb to the top of Monte Caucaso (1245 meters), starting from Neirone (332 meters), a small city in Fontanabuona valley, reachable by following the "S.S. 225" until Gattorna and then turning right onto Strada Provinciale 21, for about 3 km.
Parking is available in a designated area, below the road, near the church, where there is a drinking water tap too.
In our opinion, the 2 hours marked on the sign do not correspond to the actual travel time, which takes about 2 hours and 40 minutes to 3 hours, depending on different levels of preparation, due to the significant elevation gain.

The trail, well marked by FIE with trail markers , begins with a staircase that ascends towards the Town Hall continuing between the houses until reaching a fork, where you keep right to continue among the fields and reach the drivable road. Some shortcuts allow cutting the road a couple of times until reaching the last houses and entering the woods.

Following an ancient mule track, you skirt along a stream and then cross it, continuing to climb into the chestnut forest, always guided by , encountering some abandoned stone building and another small stream.
You thus arrive at a house in the locality of Arsena, where the path merges onto the road, which you follow for a few meters to the right after finding, to the left, a more direct path that ascends, cutting the road several times.

After the last stretch in the woods, you reach a wide green field, with few houses called Pian del Pero.
Here, a sign illustrates the different routes.

Our itinerary continues to the left, following the dirty road by passing between the houses, and begins to climb again into the woods; in this stretch, attention must be paid to the trail markers because the path, also due to fallen trees, is not always clear.
Arriving at some abandoned farmhouses, a water source is indicated, but it does not appear to be usable at the moment..

Continuing to climb, past a gate, you arrive at the locality of Faggio Rotondo, an immense meadow where two renewed stone building stand, one of which has a characteristic circular shape, restored and used as a holiday home.

A place that, besides its natural beauty, also holds historical significance, having offered refuge to partisans during the Second World War.
A plaque commemorates the crew of the plane that, on October 12, 1944, after delivering weapons and supplies to the partisans here, never returned, suggesting it may have ended up in the sea due to adverse weather conditions.
Here, there is a drinking water tap.

Leaving this beautiful place, you continue to the right, crossing the meadow and reaching a second gate.
You climb alongside the fence of a private property, then turn right and, continuing on a flat path, arrive in front of another stone building (under renovation at the moment) in front of which stands a magnificent ancient beech tree; the trail marker directs to bypass the construction and resume the climb, now particularly steep.

Exiting the woods, you continue to the left on a now open and panoramic path that crosses the southern slope of the mountain to reach the Passo della Pietra Cavallina (1047 meters). To see the rock that gives the pass its name, a short detour to the left is necessary.
Back on the main trail, you now follow the ridge to the right, with some passages deeper into the beech forest to climb decisively to the first summit of Monte Caucaso (1231 meters), where a cross has been placed.

To reach the main summit of Monte Caucaso (1245 meters), you need to descend briefly before ascending again, thus arriving at the small chapel and the Rifugio Escursionistico Monte Caucaso (refreshments and overnight stays every day in summer and spring, and only on weekends in other seasons).
From here, the view is spectacular (especially on clear days) with all the surrounding peaks and the sea on the horizon, where the promontory of Portofino stands out.

The return journey follows the outbound path for a few meters to the fork, where, this time, you continue to the right following the wide dirt road that descends to the Passo di Stre Biurche, a junction where you leave the main trail to continue to the left, following the trail marker .

It is a wide, somewhat bumpy path that descends into the woods; ignoring an initial deviation to the right, you continue until reaching a second one where the trail marker indicates to continue to the right, following a path that initially runs parallel to the road above before veering away from it and continuing to descend.

The path ends on a dirt road just before Ca' du Caramella, a locality named after the only house present.
You now follow the dirt road downhill to a bend where a shortcut to the right cuts through the woods to intersect the road further down and continue again into the woods.
Once you find the dirt road again, you follow it to the left for a few meters to pick up the trail that allows you to cut some hairpin turns and enter the municipality of Corsiglia , through its lower part to reach the drivable road which you must follow for just over 2 km to return to Neirone, where the journey began.

There is a trail that connects Corsiglia to Neirone, but at the time of writing this itinerary, it is reported to be interrupted, hence the return to Neirone is along the drivable road.

The path tracked on Google Maps

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