Path A52

Trail A52 crosses the territory of Battifollo, a small municipality in the upper Tanaro Valley with fewer than 200 inhabitants, rising from an altitude of 600 meters above sea level to the ridges separating the Tanaro and Mongia valleys. The trail enters mixed forests of beech, oak, and hornbeam, where primroses and wild violets bloom in spring. The area boasts monumental chestnut trees, some with trunks exceeding three meters in circumference, a remnant of the chestnut economy that supported these mountain communities until after World War II. Battifollo was part of the Marquisate of Ceva, and its territory is dotted with sandstone shrines along the mule tracks that connected the valley's villages. From the ridges, views open up of the Ligurian Alps and the ridge descending toward Ormea. From April to October; bring sufficient water supplies as there are no springs along the trail.