1° stop – PELLA

Take the boat and reach the square of Pella, from there raise your eyes and look for the bell tower, which will soar above each house. You can visit the church of Sant’Albino Vescovo, on whose architrave you can read the construction date: 1591.

Head towards the bell tower, there you will find a complex that was an ancient paper mill called “La Tesa” opened already in the first half of the 18th century. The factory used the Pellino river as a driving force.

The building was equipped with a tall chimney, which designed the panorama of Pella until 1939 when it was demolished. The paper that was produced was used for printing the newspaper “Il Secolo”.

A few steps from the entrance of the paper mill, on the right, there is a beautiful bridge with a donkey back bearing the date of 1578 and the inscription “Magrioha-ninusde rugis fecit”.

After the bridge, you will begin to climb towards Monte San Giulio, following a steep mule track. At the top you will find a village and a fountain where you can quench your thirst.

2° stop – EGRO (3 km traveled)

Continue along the pedestrian path towards Egro which leads to a picnic area with many tables, but no bench.

Continue to the church of Egro, dedicated to San Camillo De Lellis, completed in 1636. During the Franco-Savoy conflict in Milan the church was used as a hospital.

Then continue towards the famous cross of Egro, the first stretch of road up to the satellite dishes is wide and comfortable, but the last piece (from the iron kiosk onwards) becomes narrow, steep and even dangerous.

If you are fearless, however, the view that opens before you is unique. The whole lake from Omegna to the beach of Gozzano. A real show!

Finally the climb is over, which in this first stretch was challenging.

Then return to the road you climbed earlier to continue towards the oratory of San Francesco d’Assisi, from which a splendid mule track leads to Grassona. This road is all cobbled and very well maintained, it is really pleasant to go along it.

3° stop – GRASSONA (6 km traveled)

Unfortunately, the last stretch is paved, but below you can still see the pebbles. Then we arrive at Grassona where we find the umpteenth church of our path. Then continue along vicolo Santa Lucia which is dotted with small chapels with descriptions of their frescoes, up to a small corner that illustrates local archaeological discoveries.

Climb along the paved road (you will also find footpaths, but don’t take them because they will lead to another path). The road continues returning pedestrian and leads to the Colma.

At the church you will find a fountain of fresh water.

4° stop – RONCO SOPRA (8 km traveled)

Now we start to descend, first we come to the village of Ronco Superiore which, in addition to some rural houses, also well restored, there is a small church dedicated to the nativity of Maria, where there is a traditional fresco of San Giulio that sails on her cloak to free the island from the dragons.

The road is another mule track that served to connect Lake Orta to Valsesia, it is narrow and steep and leads to the town of Ronco Sotto, where you will find the church dedicated to San Defendente, a Roman soldier protector against the plague.

5° stop – RONCO SOTTO (9 km traveled)

Ronco Sotto is a small village overlooking the lake, a castling of houses and nothing more, but very rich in charm. Unfortunately it is not possible to take a road along the lake to return to Pella and you will be forced to do the paved road which, although with very little traffic, is certainly less pleasant.

We are not professionals in hiking and hiking.

We do it for passion and to offer our guests something more.

Using this qrcode you can download the map directly on your smartphone with altimetric details. At the link there is also the possibility to download the path for your browser, in different file formats.

Otherwise you can download the pdf by clicking here but it is less precise than the qrcode because it is not possible to increase the size of the map.