SAN GERMANO CHISONE Colle Lazzarà Loop

From the village of San Germano Chisone, you follow the Risagliardo Stream valley, passing through some of the numerous hamlets of Pramollo. After leaving the asphalt just above Bocchiardoni hamlet, you continue on a long dirt road that leads, through woods and meadows, to the 1,595 m of Colle Lazzarà, on the watershed between the lower Val Chisone and Val Germanasca. From here, follow a wide path northeast that passes at the foot of Truc Lauza and reaches a second pass, where the descent begins on the slope of the Inverso di Pomaretto. The path soon turns into a recently maintained forest track, which descends with many hairpin bends. Upon reaching a crossroads, keep to the right, climbing just over one hundred meters of elevation, then the track continues on a plateau reaching the panoramic hamlet of Combavilla of Inverso Pinasca.

The entire length of the municipality of Inverso Pinasca is crossed at an altitude between 700 and 900 m a.s.l., mostly on forest tracks, but in some sections also on the ancient mule tracks that connected the hamlets, true balconies overlooking the lower Val Chisone, allowing discovery of the architecture and way of life of the past, but also the resilience of those who never abandoned the hamlets. Along the way there are some beautiful recently restored fountains, a graphite mine now closed, but which at the beginning of the last century, along with agriculture, was a source of income for the local inhabitants.

Upon reaching Pra Pons locality, you quickly descend to return to the starting point, thus closing the loop.

For less experienced cyclists, it is possible from Colle del Lazzarà to follow the dirt road that descends into the Riclaretto valley (Municipality of Perrero) to the Chiotti hamlet, where a Waldensian temple is located. Then follow the main valley bottom road to the Lausa hamlet of Pomaretto, cross the stream at Masselli hamlet, and then climb to the Enfous hamlet, which offers a nice view of the towns of Pomaretto and Perosa Argentina. Continue on a forest track that reaches the Combavilla hamlet of Inverso Pinasca, rejoining the main track.

Appropriate clothing and equipment are recommended.

Coming from Turin, take the motorway to Pinerolo, then continue towards Val Chisone. Follow the SR23 of Sestriere up to the junction for San Germano Chisone, which is on the left.

Piazza Martiri della Libertà in San Germano Chisone

At the Colle del Lazzarà, a large fortified camp was built by French soldiers at the beginning of the 1700s, during the operations related to the Siege of Turin, the remains of which can still be perceived today; for more information, visit the 'Atlas of Fortified Works.

In the Municipality of Inverso Pinasca, the route follows the "Route D’Artagnan" track, a cultural itinerary of European interest that runs through the entire Val Chisone territory, based on the story of the famous musketeer who in the mid-1600s brought the “Man in the Iron Mask” to Pinerolo.