Manierta e Punta Baffe

Itinerary on Sestri that does not insist on the usual trails used for races but reveals a different side of it.

The start is from the parking lot just off the highway exit, we head to the traffic circle and take the first exit on the right, then at the next traffic circle we head up the Bracco climb after taking the third exit. We pedal up the Bracco climb until we see a cemented road on the right and signs for the Villa Casaggiori farmhouse, we take the cemented road and after a hundred meters take the dirt road on the left that runs alongside the farmhouse fence. We follow the dirt road to the top, a short connecting single track and from the clearing with the picnic table the first PS, MANIERTA, starts on the right. The view on a good day takes your breath away.

The trail over the years has seen a number of interventions that have made it more and more cyclable, one of which included the creation of a track parallel to the original, which unfolds to the right. The gpx file follows this new variation. Arriving at the end of the trail we face a short uphill stretch on a dirt road and then follow the asphalt that takes us from the station of Riva Trigoso, another place where it is possible to leave the car. We thus return to the Bracco road and repeat the same climb until we return to the start of the previous PS, where we never tire of admiring the view. We take the path to the left this time and then at the next fork to the right. The view is always the same but different each time.

So we arrive at another clearing with tables, we continue straight on the path that follows the ridge, in some places stopping is a must, even in bad weather!

So we arrive at a fork, take a right and start a more technical part on fixed rock, important to find the right line. The trail then turns to dirt and has a relaunch, but we are right on the cliff and the view is lost and we feel less fatigue. We cut a hairpin bend to the left with an obvious trail and immediately leave the dirt road for a path on the right that gives us the last piece of trail on the itinerary. When we reach the asphalt we take a left and after passing the cemetery we go right at the fork, after the underpass regulated by traffic lights we are back from the Riva Trigoso station, we return comfortably on asphalt to the starting point.

Pay attention to water supplies, especially in summer, because there are no drinking fountains along the way.