Monte Cimone

We park the car at the Lake of the Ninfa (1500 m above sea level) right in front of the Baita della Ninfa and take the CAI trail 449, the only trail we will follow until the summit. After walking alongside the lake for a very short stretch, the trail leads into the woods towards the “Lake of the Ninfa” Refuge (no more than 10 minutes walk from the start).

After about 1 km from where we left the car, we exit the woods and reach a plateau, the arrival point of two chairlifts. 

We continue directly towards Cimone, taking a wide dirt road which we follow for no more than 300 m. In fact, shortly after, signs indicate to take a path on the left that steeply climbs the mountain's ridge. 

The path is very beautiful, passing through the Salto della Capra, where we find two or three slightly exposed points that require the use of hands to proceed forward (but nothing particularly challenging or too dangerous). 

After about 1 km, we leave the trail and cross the asphalt road which we follow until its end, reaching Pian Cavallaro (1878 m). At the end of the asphalt road, we take the trail on the right (still the 449). We are at the foot of Monte Cimone: we see it very close to us but there are still 300 meters of elevation to cover (half of the ascent we have done along the entire route). 

After the climb, we reach the summit of Monte Cimone (2166 m). Although it starts to become cloudy, the view is beautiful: a clear break in the sky in one direction allows us to glimpse the Apuan Alps, and thanks to the large map placed on the ground, we manage to orient ourselves and identify some mountains unknown to us.

The clouds worsen. We decide to take the shortest trail down (CAI 441), which like a direct route leads to Pian Cavallaro.

From there we continued on the asphalt road, immediately heading back to the car.