Val Prescudin

A few kilometers from our home the Cellina River flows through a gorge from Claut to Montereale, surrounded by mountains.  About halfway up the gorge, Val Prescudin joins the Cellina from the west.  It's a beautiful wilderness area, without cars, chainsaws, tractors etc.  Only the sound of falling water and singing birds.

I've passed by the turnoff near Arcola dozens of times, but there was a barrier so I never tried it.  But on a local program called Sentieri Natura a few months back they showed Corpo Forestale  hiking up the road, then continuing on up to Monte Medol.  So I thought I'd give it a try.

After passing through the gate, I crossed the Cellina bridge and started riding up the road along Torrente Prescudin.  At this level there were mainly pine trees.  The road snaked up the gorge with spectacular views of surrounding mountains and white water below.  The forest transitioned to lovely stands of beech trees with sunlit leaves, then yew, and finally fir trees.  At the end of pavement are some meadows and Villa Emma, a large house now used as a nature observatory by Corpo Forestale. 

I descended quite slowly as the pavement is rough and steep, plus a number of hikers were enjoying the wilderness walk.  Back on the main road I returned past Barcis (full of weekenders enjoying the fine weather), through the tunnels and home.  I'll try hiking this climb with my dogs in the near future- they'll love it. * See below 

Crep Nudo, 2200 meters, above Torrente Cellina

Monte Messer, 2230 meters, above Val Prescudin

Villa Emma at 650 meters, with Monte I Muri (2046m)

Crep Nudo from Villa Emma

Torrente Prescudin cascade from the cliffside above

Map of the climb

* Update 12 April
I took the girls for a walk up Val Prescudin this morning.  They loved it, and even found a new path through the forest from Villa Emma down to the big bend in the road.  Fun!

The path from Villa Emma down to the big bend in the road

The bend, with backlit leaves of beech trees