We are in Val Prino, a Y-shaped valley to the west of Imperia on Liguria's Riviera of Flowers. Nothing is flat and level here - apart from a small river delta around Albenga. Everywhere else, the mountains rise directly from the coast to over 1200 metres, and directly behind them to over 2000 metres. There have always been reasons to build paths in this mountain world throughout Liguria's history.
For centuries and millennia, Marco (the policeman) explains, the slopes were terraced right up to the summits in order to extract agricultural produce from the rough ground. Of course, they had to get everywhere and built roads: from the valley to the villages, along the slopes to the fields, from village to village and over the passes into the neighbouring valleys and on to nearby Piedmont. Salt, oil and fish were sold from the sea to the mountains, chestnuts and meat in the opposite direction. If you are travelling in these mountains for the first time, you may end up at a dead end.
But little by little you begin to understand the network of paths and recognise the reason why a path was created. Whether it only leads to a field or to the next village. For mountain bikers, this means: the best all-mountain tours and practically every metre downhill on a single trail. Out of season, you won't meet any other bikers or hikers. But hunters. It's wild boar hunting season. Every Wednesday and Sunday, the mudbugs are hunted. On these days, it is therefore best to wear colourful clothing when touring the terrain by bike.
You can find the entire article as well as GPS data and the roadbooks for these trails as a PDF download below:
1st Monte Faudo trails (26.2 km, 1460 m elevation gain, 4:00 h)
2nd Monte Moro (30.1 km, 1560 m elevation gain, 5:00 h)
3rd Strada Marenca (38 km, 1450 m elevation gain, 5:00 h)
