Giro del Cansiglio MTB

Started bright and early from La Crosetta  and after a couple hundred meters turned right on to the gravel road to Monte Candaglia.  Beautiful forest road, mostly level along the side of the ridge.  After riding up to Monte Candaglia I continued climbing to the eastern boundary of il Cansiglio, marked with a surveyors stone marker centuries ago.

Back down a bit I turned right on the forest road descending to Val Bona.  The road is rougher with larger stones, covered with leaves so you can't avoid them.  At Val Bona I continued on Sentiero Alpago Natura to Pian Rosada,  where I rejoined the paved road toward Canaie.  I tried a couple of side roads I thought might reach Casera Palantina.  The first climbs up through Val Seraie to around 1400 meters.  From there you'd continue hiking on CAI 984 to Val Friz.

After descending to Canaie I tried another road, climbing up Val de Piera.  This ended around 1300 meters, with the possibility of hiking CAI 922 to Casera Palantina.  I will have to return and hike it some day.

Now I headed back through Pian Rosada to Campon, where I turned right immediately for Palughetto and on toward  Rifugio Mezzomiglio.  Very steep climb but paved mostly so no problem on MTB.

My plan was to try the trail from Mezzomiglio to Monte Pizzoc, but things went awry.  I crossed the grassy ridge above Mezzomiglio and found the trail I needed, H3.  Immediately it became a muddy mire, churned by livestock hooves into an impassable mess.  I tried continuing a ways but it just got worse.  The H3 trail has no pathway, gravel, etc: just markers showing you the way through the mud. I will come back in the dry season and hike this: there is another parallel trail closer to the cliff edge which crosses Monte Millifret.  

Instead, I retraced my steps to another unrideble muddy trail crossing the ridge and descending to Strada Taffarel.  I carried my road bike over this short trail a few years ago after climbing to Mezzomiglio and it was less muddy that time of year.

Finally reaching Taffarel I tried to make up time, with only 4 or 5 mud bogs on the road to contend with.  Then down the Monte Pizzoc road and up to La Crosetta.  Now I'm stanco di morte. 

The turnoff for Val Seraie

End of road in Val de Piera 

Mom and baby asino at Mezzomiglio

Asinino posing in front of Dolomiti Bellunese

Ancient flatrock wall made without  mortar

Strange stack of huge boulders above Mezzomiglio

Casera Ceresera MTB

The ridge connecting Piancavallo and Il Cansiglio has several different trail routes.  Today I tried the trail to Candaglia via Casera Ceresera.

After climbing from Costa to Bornass I continued on the main road to Piancavallo.  Here I turned toward Sauc.  They've repaved the road and it's super smooth- big improvement.  Above Casera Campo the pavement ends and you continue on gravel.  It tops out just after Casera Valle Fritz at 1538 meters.  Shortly afterward you arrive at a side road to your right with a barrier.  I ducked under that and headed uphill.  The trail is basically two parallel tire tracks with tall grass.  Very pretty scenery with rolling rocky grassy knolls soon giving way to forest.  Karst stone outcrops everywhere with strange eroded shapes.

Eventually the road ends up in Il Cansiglio and descends along a mountainside covered with big trees.  The cloudy skies, shady forest, and coasting downhill soon have me freezing so I stop to put on my leg warmers.  Much better now and soon the stone house at Casera Ceresera comes into view.  You reach an information sign with map and turn right toward Motore Alpino which appears to be an old incline plane with winch.  There's a sign for Candaglia, but it turns out it's only a narrow foot trail traversing a steep slope.   I walked the bike on this because the steepness and narrowness were beyond my MTB skills.  A better rider might have no problem.  After a chilometer it joins the road to Candaglia and in a moment you arrive at the Casa Forestale.  Take the paved road to the right, and at the first switchback avoid the dirt road to Val Bona (and Val Menera), staying on the paved road.  Soon you reach the junction with a gravel road to your left marked La Crosetta.  This is a fantastic road, almost level (slightly descending), with smooth hard-packed surface and no big rocks or gullies.  It is immersed in a forest of big beech trees and spruce, sloping down toward Piancansiglio.  One hikers' picnic area had a sign marked Paradise and I had to agree.

Soon you reach the paved main road which carries you down the mountain to Sarone.  From there a good climb home on Via Pedemontane.  

Just past Casera Valle Fritz turn right

Looking back at the beautiful terrain traversed

Apparently I was riding through the forest on Trail 7 

The forest road descending toward Casera Ceresera

Casera Ceresera- head toward the right

I had to walk this, maybe you can ride it

Below Candaglia the turnoff for the wonderful road to La Crosetta

Val Menera MTB

Another attempt today to reach Il Cansiglio from Mezzomonte.  On my last try, I turned south too soon and arrived at Malga di Coda del Bosco instead.  Today I rode from Polcenigo up to Col delle Palse (1366m) and turned left toward Il Cansiglio.  I continued on the gravel road along the ridge until 1181 meters where I turned right onto the road for Candaglia/Il Cansiglio.  This turns to a concrete surface and climbs up to 1289 meters near Col dei S'cios, where you turn right onto a gravel forest road marked Candaglia.  You leave behind the grassy bald area and enter a lush dense forest of beech and spruce trees.

This beautiful road continues to the border of Veneto and an old survey marker from the days when Veneto first became part of Italy.  Soon you arrive at the casa forestale (1268m) on Monte Candaglia, with great panoramas of the Dolomiti Bellunese, Monte Pizzoc, and the expansive grassy meadows of Piancansiglio.  After a brief descent on the paved road, I took the bumpy gravel road marked variously Val Bona, Col di Piave, and later Pian di Landro.  This road passes through densely forested wilderness for miles before finally leveling out, crossing Pian di Landro and arriving in the big meadowy expanse of Val Menera.  Here cows were grazing under the sun, which was a welcome sight because I had gotten so cold on the long, slow shady descent I was shivering, despite wearing a wind jacket.

Soon you arrive at the main road and Pian Osteria.  From here it's an easy ride across Piancansiglio, up through the woods to La Crosetta, and down the mountain to Sarone.  Legs felt a little fried on the rolling hills of Via Pedemontane, but before long I was home.  This is a great ride and I'd love to try some of the many variations soon.

Looking back at Col delle Palse from the ridge road

Turn right at 1181 meters toward Cansiglio, Candaglia
(concrete road) 

Near Col de S'cious: turn right here for Candaglia

Ceppo marking border between Veneto and Austrian empire

Number of the ceppo

Dolomiti Bellunese from casa forestale Candaglia

Monte Teverone (2328m) to north

Piancansiglio (Col Visentin antennas peaking over the ridge on left)

The turn off below Candaglia to Val Bona/ Val Menera

Gorgeous Val Menera meadows

Looking back across Pian di Landro toward eastern ridge

Monte Candaglia

Monte Candaglia is one of the small mountains rising from the eastern edge of altopiano  del Cansiglio.  It's a nature reserve, with tall red spruce and beech trees towering over its steep slopes.  Maybe 15 years ago Marilyn and I hiked there with our little terrier Rocky.  Since then we haven't returned, but I've always remembered how beautiful it was.  Today's stupendous weather was a perfect excuse to revisit the place.   

I left home on my bike at 6 AM and arrived at Caneva around 7.  I took the back road through vineyards to Villa di Villa and began the climb.  This is my favorite route to Il Cansiglio, very wild and solitary.  Today I saw only one car on the whole ascent- no one else, though I did interrupt two deer's breakfast along the lane.  The gradient is a fairly constant 7-8% for 10 kms- good workout.  The bottom half is sometimes exposed to full sun, and at others cloaked by small trees.  I don't know how much shade these would provide on summer afternoons.   Around 700 meters you enter a very shady beech tree forest (mixed with spruce as well), which you climb to around 980 meters.  Here you join the main road from Caneva which continues to La Crosetta.

The altopiano was absolutely gorgeous this morning- cool and green with deep blue sky.  I continued to Piancansiglio and turned right.  There is a golf course here, in winter used for crosscountry skiing.  I'd never noticed the artesian wells before, with water gushing upward from a wide standpipe.  Pavement ends at the forest edge and I rode carefully to a barrier, where I had to get off and walk.  I was unsure where pavement resumed because it was so long ago- turned out to be about a km. 

The pavement resumes and is very narrow, with lots of loose pebbles.  I rode slowly due to the steepness, which became even steeper later.  Only lost traction once- not too bad for near 20%.  Watch for metal drainage gutters crossing the road, especially on the descent (I stayed on the brakes all the way down).  The trees here are very large and tall, and the understory is full of contorted karst formations covered in moss.  It is dead silent except for birdsong.  Switchbacks wind upward back and forth, finally arriving at Casa Forestale della Candaglia, a forest ranger outpost.  Along the way you pass dirt roads for La Crosetta and Pian Rosada near Campon.  They looked rideable with a road bike- I'll have to try them another time.

On the ride home I descended via the main road to Sarone- very fun carving the turns today.  I actually got tired toward the end and just wanted to go straight.  It was quite hot down on the plain, but I bore down and made it home by noon.  

Leafy canopy over the road above Villa di Villa

Shady zone above Villa di Villa, near the parco di carbonaio
(charcoal makers)

On Monte Candaglia, the mossy understory 

Switchback below Casa Forestale 1247m  

Tall beech trees blocking the bright sun

Monte Candaglia across the meadows, from the main road climbing to La Crosetta 

Map of ride

View of Piancansiglio and the turn off for Candaglia

Close up of climb to casa forestale della Candaglia

Steep gradient to Monte Candaglia

The climb from Piancansiglio to Candaglia is
about 3 km and gains 250m.