The Valley of the Gordana Stream and the Giaredo Straits

A loop-shaped route, part of the Lunigiana Bike Area project, fully mapped and marked as route number 15, in the municipality of Pontremoli.

We leave from Piazza Italia, in Pontremoli, where there is a notice board of MTB routes. We take Provincial Road No. 31 toward Mulazzo until we reach kilometer 6 in Ponte Teglia where we make a right-hand turn onto a low-traffic municipal road towards the village of Teglia.

At the entrance to the village, we turn right again and begin the ascent on a dirt road that takes us to the locality of Oppilo after about 2,5 kilometer. The route continues for another 2 kilometers to the entrance of Provincial Road No. 36 that goes up from Pontremoli to Arzelato. We now travel about 1,5 kilometer of tarmac always uphill before turning right again where a dirt road in the forest takes us downhill towards Torrano.

Once we pass through the village of Torrano, we continue downhill towards Cavezzana Gordana following a dirt road and after less than 2 kilometers we will arrive in Valunga, which is crossed by the Gordana stream. After crossing the bridge over the creek, we turn left in the direction of Vico.

A the beginning of this climb we will find the directions for the Giaredo Straits, which are river canyons worked and carved over the centuries by the water flow from the Gordana stream. This stretch of river gorge, which can be reached only on foot, has been recognized as Special Area of Conservation (ZSC – Zona Speciale di Conservazione – Special Area of Conservation). For more information we suggest you check www.strettidigiaredo.org. From here we return to Pontremoli after riding for 22,3 kilometers.