MERITS AND POTENTIALS OF A SIDE VALLEY
The peculiarity of Valle Grana – the shortest of Cuneo’s valley with its 24km length – is to be between the most known “Valle Stura” ( to the South) and “Valle Maira” ( to the North), but it does not mean this valley lacks in beauty and charm.
The valley is linked to both the Valle Stura, through the Fauniera’s pass, and the Valle Maira through the Esischie’s.
At the entrance of the valley there is Caraglio, little typical town, that opens the doors to the visitors. Continuing up toward Monterosso, the valley seems to get narrow, but since reached Chiappi, it opens up into lush pastures surmounted by the alpine tops of the “Monte Parvo” and “Monte Tibert”.
The main attraction of the area for its history and architecture is undoubtedly the Sanctuary of “San Magno” (1760m above sea level), built in the XVI century, cited just 500m above La Font.
However, the most important symbol of the area, known worldwide, is the homonymous “Castelmagno” cheese, that brings people from all over the world and is the main ingredient of local and traditional dishes, including the famous “gnocchi al Castelmagno”.
Regarding outdoor activities, for summer and fall, the area offers a dense network of footpaths for all kind of levels: mostly available also for mountain-bike lovers. In winter and spring time, Viribian, Viridio, Sibolet, Tempesta and Tibert are some of the tops destination of ski-mountaineers, cross-country skiers and enthusiast snowshoes walkers.