Monte Cucco, from Eurosia to the Sanctuary of Oropa

Description

On reaching San Eurosia (hamlet of Pralungo), follow the signs for the hamlet of Caramelletto to a crossroads (signs for Santuario di Oropa) where the route begins on foot. You begin to climb up the tarmac road, which after about ten minutes becomes a dirt track. This leads to the Soleri chapel and a little further on, on the left, a path (signposted) that almost always leads to the sanctuary. When you reach the sanctuary, cross it until you come to the square in front of the new church where you turn left onto the so-called Passeggiata dei Preti, just beyond the bridge over the Oropa stream. The path soon becomes a path that skirts the left-hand side of the valley on level ground, until you reach the Cucco farmstead (the only farmstead on the path), where you leave the marked path to climb along tracks on the elementary grassy slope of the Cucco. In half an hour, you reach the scenic peak of Monte Cucco, where your gaze can sweep over the mountains of the Cervo valley and Oropa, but also over the Gnifetti peak (Monte Rosa), the mountains of Lombardy and as far as Monviso. Fauna sightings: Aquila chrysaetos