A two-day itinerary, suitable for everyone, to experience autumn: the season in which the Reggio Apennines presents itself with its most intense natural colors, but also with delicious products such as mushrooms, chestnuts, and truffles as the protagonists of fairs, festivals and menus in local restaurants.
The beauty of the landscape in the season of foliage, with shades of leaves ranging from yellow and red to brown, make the Reggio Apennines a very popular and photographed place in autumn, when visitors can combine days spent hiking and walking with moments spent in local fairs, created to enhance and taste the seasonal products. There are so many events, some now historical; the complete list is available on the portal of the local IAT office.
The first stop on our itinerary is Lake Calamone, on Mount Ventasso in the National Park of the Tuscan Emilian Apennines, a beautiful place to admire autumn colors. To reach this small lake of glacial origin you must arrive in the tourist station of Ventasso Laghi, altitude 1300, and then walk for about 2 km to reach Lake Calamone.
The views that can be admired during the foliage season, whether coming from the Po Valley, or coming from the steps that connect the area of the valleys of Secchia and Enza to Lunigiana, are certainly worth the trip. This is an area with small villages surrounded by meadows and woods, mostly beech, which color the whole landscape.
Once you arrive at the lake, characterized by a small island with a small sacred icon, you will see all the colors of the forest reflected in the blue water and you can also stop at the Refuge on the shore, or enjoy a traditional dish once you return to Ventasso Laghi.
In half an hour by car, admiring the landscape, it is possible to reach the village of Cerreto Alpi, in the upper Secchia valley, also in the municipality of Ventasso.
Here the tradition of chestnut harvesting has always been handed down and every year the "metato" (a small stone building for drying chestnuts) is lit and curious visitors are welcome to spend some time between a guided tour in the woods of the valley, a tour in the village and a visit to the "metato", to see all the operations of drying and processing of chestnuts, carried out by a local community cooperative.
In the evening you can find an accomodation in the area: in the ancient Mill of Cerreto Alpi, for example, or nearby in the village of Collagna.
Marola is a small village with a thousand-year history, in the municipality of Carpineti.
The cultivation of the chestnut tree started in the Middle Ages thanks to the monks and the Countess Matilde of Canossa; a tradition still alive, in fact around the village there are chestnut woods.
For over 50 years, every Sunday in October, the country comes alive with the Chestnut Festival: thousands of visitors arrive to spend a day of celebration and enjoy this autumn fruit, with a big cauldron in the middle of the square where roast chestnuts are made and visitors can find many stalls of local farms.
You can also participate in the chestnut harvesting activities organized by the association Proloco Marola and go to a "metato", the small building where chestnuts are dried. There are also organized walks or guided excursions and you can take the little ones to practice educational workshops on the theme of the forest in autumn, or visit the Abbey founded by Matilde of Canossa over a thousand years ago.
