Leguigno - Cortogno - Paullo

Period advised: preferred spring, late spring beginning of fall. It can just the same be done in any month of the year, paying attention to the rainy periods.

This transversal route brings together ancient mule roads that, from town to town connected mills, chestnut woods, isolated nuclei to the principal civil and religious centers.

Leguigno - Cortogno - Paullo

To get to Leguigno you take the SS 63 up to Casina; from here you take the town road in the direction of Migliara.
It's about 5.6 km from the administrative capital.
The route starts in the location Montata.

Apennines

Matildic zone

Itinerary in Detail
Leguigno (Montata) - Mulino di Leguigno - Cortogno - Fornile - Crocicchio - Paullo
From the eastern border of the hamlet Montata di Leguigno, you leave the S. Anna oratory you take a small road which in a couple of minutes reaches the knoll of the hamlet Incrostolo (600 m) and the underlying rural settlement Cucchio (588 m). Both agglomerates have architectural features dating back to the XVII - XVIII century, when at the foot of the castle there were groups of stone buildings, generally surrounding a massive tower-house erected on a knoll.
From Cucchio you descend along a carriage road a ridge towards the Tassobio torrent, while in front there's the arenaceous plateau which supports the woody peaks from Mt Barazzone, Mt Pulce, Mt Tesa and Ferri. In the middle of the hillside there are the hamlets of Barazzone and Cortogno. The extensive tilled lands, once separated by many hedges, reach the side of the last clay step eroded by the torrent. From here, along the carriage way, among shrubs and clay outcrops, you reach Mulino di Leguigno. Following for a stretch the carriage road traveled by the Ducati route, you reach the village of Mulino di Cortogno, formed around one or two mills, already active in the XIX century. After having left SDT which climbs up to Barazone, you reach, along a narrow paved road, the hamlet of Cortogno. The climb, between hedges and turkey oaks allows an open view of the ridge at the foot of Mt Ferri, while on the right there's the elevated valley of the Tassobbio torrent, enclosed on the east by the ridge of Sarzano. Continuing climbing among open fields, you reach the SP Ciano - La Stella, on the pass between the valleys of Tassobbio and Campola, at Faille. Here it is presumed that there was an oratory dedicated to S. Lucia, which hasn't existed for a long time, and traces of a medieval mule road which from Sarzano wen o down hill to Faieto, Cerredolo and Canossa. From the square at Fornile there's a detour which starts in the direction of Bergogno, while the route ventures in to the elevated Campola valley. The landscape is wide open until it reaches a ridge, beyond which the Paullo territory starts and a you enter a chestnut wood. Soon you reach the SP Casina Pecorile and the village of Crocicchio. A very nice, scenic carriage road leads to the Rio Torbido valley, to the entire Crostolo valley and to the subsequent Castelpoggio ridge. Having passed the plain called La Malunga, ancient marsh which probably gave the name to the Parish, a place where the S. Bartolomeo fair took place, you follow directions for the Paullo Parish. Daniele Canossini, 1995