Ciclovia Boschi di Carrega

The Carrega bike path unfolds in a typical forest landscape and you may ride it all year round, even in the hottest summer, thanks to the prevalence of cool and shady stretches. We are at about fifteen kilometres south of Parma, on ancient river terraces between Baganza and Taro that have always been covered with forests of great natural value as well as historical, touristic and recreational significance.

These are the ancient hunting grounds of the Farnese family, the Bourbons and then finally (in the early twentieth century) purchased by the Carrega Princes. The Woods are composed of mixed deciduous forests to which, over time, exotic species have been added for ornamental purposes, mainly conifers. A special feature is the unique beech forest planted in 1828 by Marie Louise of Austria with specimens taken from the high Parma Apennines.

The route starts from the Collecchio railway station and, after crossing the village, you reach the entrance of the park, at the end of the side street via Conventino. A strip of asphalt skirts around the Forest of Capannella and goes uphill with two hairpin bends to the straight road where you turn right onto a dirt road that leads quickly to the Casino dei Boschi, a magnificent residence of the Dukes of Parma nestled in a nineteenth century garden-park that now houses the visitor centre of the park.

You proceed southbound, still on asphalt but in an environment which becomes more and more typical of a forest, up to the 300 metres of Mount Castione top, “turning point” of our itinerary. From this point onwards you’ll ride downhill between chestnut forests until Talignano from where you can reach the Romanesque Pieve di Talignano (and from there possibly link up to the Ciclovia Taro). Alternatively, if the soil is dry, you can take the MTB trail through Piana Marchesi and the picturesque Lake Svizzera to reach via Conventino, which you already rode on during the first leg.

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 ELEVATION PROFILE

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CARTOGRAPHY

Download the map of the route (JPEG - 1.5 MB)