Hiking Ol Murlansì - From Colognola di Casazza to Monte Ballerino and Colli San Fermo

Overview ~ Description ~ Plants ~ Photos

 

 

Top left: View from Trail 613, north toward Lago Endine.
To right: Climbing the part of trail 613 called Ol Murlansì - a wall constructed to permit passage through the cliffs.

Bottom left: View from Colli di San Fermo hill south toward the Po River Valley plain and Val Cavallina.

Bottom right: A trail on Monte Ballerino filled with anemones.

We can see Colli San Fermo from our windows and decided that we should go check it out. We did the same with Monte Guglielmo (see Monte Guglielmo Hike) and Monte Misma (see A Walk from Albino to Bergamo via Monte Misma) and Canto Alto (see Bergamo to Canto Alto – A Sunday Hike). Okay, you get the idea, we fixate on what we see from our windows. This is our third official “hike” of 2024.

Overview

Duration: 3.75 hours
Elevation: 833 m
Length: 8.5 km
Location: Colli di San Fermo, BG, Italy

Description

We parked in Casazza just before you reach the south end of Lago Endine (Val Cavallina). Specifically, we drove up to the Santuario della Madonna del Monte Carmelo and parked behind it (uphill) in some free parking spots (here). At this point you are about at 420 m. You still must reach Monte Ballerino at 1275 m, or about 855 m (2800 ft) left to go. From the point you leave the car until you reach Monte Ballerino, it’s 3 km of all uphill. This is trail 613.

This hike does have the locally famous part called “ol Murlansì”, a sort of stone retaining wall that takes you up and through the imposing cliffside (Corna di Colognola) that Monte Ballerino sits on. Some of the sections of the trail have chains to grab on to if you need a little help or would rather concentrate on the chains rather than the drop-off – like me.

This hike made us think of Kendall Katwalk (and Beyond) Hike a bit. Ah, the good old days of hiking around Seattle.

Starting off, there wasn’t much flora to look at. At this time of year, the hornbeam (Ostrya carpinifolia - carpino nero) and ash (Fraxinus sp. - frassino) forests haven’t leafed out and the ground is bleak and brown. But, as you reach the base of the cliffs, you start seeing more flowers, enough that we felt like taking out our cameras.

When we left the car it was warm and sunny. Up top, it was foggy and cool. Not many views for us today! And, one of the main places to eat Al Colle Pizzeria was running in skeleton-crew mode. No pizzas, only a panino. The upside was we were the only ones there!

After eating and taking a quick look at the helmet-shaped church (Cappella Virgo Fidelis - Lucerna Carabinieri), we headed back to Casazza via a different trail – following the indications for Prati Cambia and Casazza – to make a loop. 

Plants

By the way, our reference for plants that we use often is this: ref


[Amaryllidaceae] Galanthus nivalis

[Asparagaceae] Scilla bifolia

[Boraginaceae] Pulmonaria angustifolia

[Brassicaceae] Cardamine heptaphylla

 

[Brassicaceae] Cardamine pentaphyllos

 

[Ericaceae] Erica carnea

[Liliaceae] Erythronium dens-canis

[Polygaceae] Polygala chamaebuxus

 

[Primulaceae] Primula acaulis

[Primulaceae] Primula veris

[Ranunculaceae] Anemonoides nemorosa

  

[Ranunculaceae] Helleborus niger

 

[Ranunculaceae] Hepatica nobilis

 

[Thymelaeaceae] Daphne mezereum

Photos

  

Views of Trail 613 - Corna di Colognola and the part called Ol Murlansì.

  

Views from the Trail from Colli San Fermo to Casazza passing through Prati Cambia.

  

Map of the area and our hiking details.

 

A helmet-shaped church in Colli San Fermo and an altar in the pasture.

A view of the Corna di Colognola with the antennas of Monte Ballerino visible. Trail 613 climbs up to Ballerino.