The best MTB trails around Azzone

It is a grassy saddle located on the ridge of the Costone, just above the Croce del Costone and before the terrain becomes rockier towards the Pale di San Fermo. It is a transit point, not a summit, but it is very scenic and represents an important junction for various itineraries.

🏔️ Monte Altissimo (Val Camonica) — Identity and main characteristics Monte Altissimo is a mountain in the Bergamo Prealps, 1703 m high, located between the lower Val Camonica and the lower Val di Scalve. It is the highest peak in the mountain group that separates these two valleys and overlooks the Borno plateau. Two very different sides Southern side: steep, rocky, almost devoid of vegetation, with a difference in altitude of about 1500 m from the Oglio valley floor. Northern side: gentle slope towards Borno, covered with fir trees and dotted with mountain huts, chalets and ski slopes of the Borno Ski Area. 🚶‍♂️ Hiking — The main itineraries Monte Altissimo is very popular with hikers thanks to the good network of trails (difficulty E). Here are the best-known and documented routes. 1) From Erbanno – Trail 197 or 155 A steep and challenging itinerary, with a significant difference in altitude. Trail 197: Start: Erbanno (Darfo Boario Terme) Passes through: small church of San Valentino (690 m), Malga Mine, junction with trail 194 From the cross: spectacular view of the lower Val Camonica and Lake Iseo Summit reachable in 15 minutes from the final junction Trail 155 (more direct and strenuous): Difference in altitude: about 1460 m Steep sections, some chains on a slightly exposed traverse Remarkable panorama over the meadows of the “Segable” Arrival at the Monte Altissimo refuge and the ski lifts 2) From Gorzone – Trail 154 A wilder route on the south side, with a long and tough climb. 3) From Borno – North side (ski slope areas) A gentler and more panoramic itinerary, often chosen for loop tours that include refuges, mountain huts and small churches (as in your story). 🏞️ What makes Monte Altissimo special Sharp contrast between the two sides: one severe and rocky, the other gentle and wooded. Wide panoramas of the lower Val Camonica, Lake Iseo and Presolana. Network of mountain huts and chalets still active in summer. Presence of the Monte Altissimo refuge at the summit, also reached by ski lifts. Possibility of very varied loops, combining woods, slopes, ridges and small isolated churches.

The Malga di Val Sorda is not a "classic" alpine pasture hut with grazing activities, but a hiking landmark located in the large meadow of Val Sorda, along the paths that lead from Croce di Salven towards Pratolungo, Malga Guccione, and finally Monte Altissimo. Online information describes it as part of the valley's pasture and pool system, crossed by CAI trails 186 and 187. 📍 Location The hut is located in the central pasture of Val Sorda, reached after about 1h10 of walking from Croce di Salven along trail 186. It is a junction point between: trail 186 (towards Pratolungo and Altissimo) trail 187 (steeper, climbs towards the Val Sorda refuge/structure)

A very pleasant climb from Val di Scalve to Borno. Beautiful and not particularly challenging. 😊

It's nice to cycle in Val Sorda, if you want there are routes that take you to the highest mountain, with a spectacular view...

The bell tower of Pianezza was erected in 1673 but only two hundred years later, following the insistence of the inhabitants, it was equipped with the singular six-hour clock (the so-called “Roman” system), made by the clockmaker “di Torre in Albino” Lorenzo Memi. This is a system in force since about 1200 AD, which measured the hours of the day starting shortly after sunset, then supplanted by the twelve-hour “French” system, in the second half of the nineteenth century.

Valle di Croce marks the border with Oltrepovo. From here started the connecting road to Meto and Pianezza built in the first half of the nineteenth century, still passable on foot today. Behind the shrine there is the stone quarry whose exploitation probably began towards the end of the eighteenth century; in this era the “Pichècc” (Gelpi family) emigrated from Val d’Intelvi and settled in Vilminore, expert stonemasons who worked the stones also used for the construction of the majestic bell tower of Vilminore.

The church of Nona, erected and consecrated as a parish in 1614 (as per the cartouche on the southern entrance) by Bishop Giovanni Emo, is a late sixteenth-century building with a simple structure. Like almost all churches of that time, this one also has a charming little portico that externally protects the main entrance. The pronaos of the façade has columns made of stone from the Dezzo river; the portal is made of Scalvino tuff and the date 1700 can be read on the architrave. Interesting is the tuff funerary stone located next to the former steps leading to the cemetery with an engraved epigraph in Latin: Hic confringes tumentes fluctus tuos MDCIC (Bible verse taken from the book of Job: Here the pride of your waves will be broken – 1699). A phrase with a warning intent to remind man of the limitations of his being.