Indications

Recommended for

• Hikers
• Families
• Snow-shoes

Access

Passed Cantoira, turn right and follow the Vru – Lities direction. Reach Vru hamlet and park the car in the little square.

Itinerary

Walk to reach the Rivirin houses, characterized by Mole Antonelliana and Pisa leaning tower miniature reproductions. The trail starts from this point and climbs through a narrow valley, along Rio Brissout, which you will cross three times. At half way through, there is a small abandoned lime quarry. Reaching the next crossroads for S. Domenico, turn right (there are direction signals), flank a small shrine on the trailside, pass by a white marble cross in memory of a miner who died in 1925 and enter a side valley. Keep on climbing along the stream, noticing the more and more evident traces of the old cableway, until the valley opens up and you see, high up, the mine. The trail now follows a small brook, which makes the slope marshy. After a stretch with shrubs, pass by some huts, used as miners’ sleeping quarters. Now turn right and, through a comfortable trail, reach the mine (1580 m).

It is a talc mine from the early 1900, which closed down in 1979. Thanks to CAI di Lanzo, it has been recovered and transformed in a museum. Visitors may observe, beside the original tunnel, the perfectly preserved outside structures, the small train parked in the specific place, the joined workshop with all the tools in use at the time.

Now take the trail starting from above the mine tunnel entrance, which, having crossed the stream reaches the Cugnì’s mine. This is a scenic section of the trail. Reach Zanai and follow the cart road up to the Forchetta pass. From here descend to Blinant hamlet and then, through the dirt road, go back to Vru.

Bibliography

Sentieri natura n.1, 20 sentieri tematici del CAI Lanzo.

Cartography

Valli di Lanzo – carta dei sentieri 3 Val Grande, www.sentieri.biz, Valli di Lanzo carta dei sentieri CAI Lanzo