Location: Monte Cimone
Difficulty: Medium
Length: 7 km
Elevation gain: 300 meters
The Crosati Trail is the route in Tonezza that passes through the forest and the trenches that were the scene of the Great War. It culminates with the arrival at the Sacrario di Monte Cimone.
Departure from Sports Facilities
The Crosati Trail starts from the usual parking area of the tennis courts, or can begin in Contrada Campana at the start of the paved road to Monte Cimone. Continuing along the main path, described in Gastone's book, you arrive at Contrà Tezza towards the road of the Fogazzariano trail. You reach the Bosco del Gigante and subsequently the "Bruli".
Austro-Hungarian Cemetery of the Crosati
The route here is a bit “wild” but continues straight until the fork where you turn left towards Contrà Campana. About 30 minutes from departure, you arrive at the Austro-Hungarian Cemetery of the Crosati. After passing the cemetery, you enter a forest of beeches and firs until you meet the fork that leads to the Valley of the Bear and the Busa Grande. Then you turn left and after a short while immediately to the right to continue uphill.
Passage through the "Cason della Sassa" to a viewpoint
The trail becomes gentler and leads to the “Cason della Sassa,” built in 1909 and having withstood the bombings of the Great War. The route continues uphill among stones and roots until reaching Prà da Bosco. If you take a break, you can see a beautiful panorama: the Seven Municipalities, Monte Cengio and Summano, and the plain of Alto Vicentino.
Meeting with the CAI 547 path and Cimoncello
About an hour remains until the destination. You arrive at a numbered CAI path 547 that climbs from Contrà Tartura in Arsiero. The path continues uphill among beeches and firs to reach the Cimoncello and then the saddle that separates it from Cimone. Here you can stop to see the Valeda observatory in Valduga with a nice viewpoint.
The Witch's Pit and the arrival at the Sacrario
Resuming the trail, you reach the Witch's Pit not far from the rocky saddle scattered with trenches that can be traversed to reach the Sacrario di Monte Cimone. It is from here that the excavation work began to place the large mine that exploded during the conflict beneath the mountain, occupied by the Italians.
The view from the top of Cimone
From the summit, the panorama is particularly captivating. You can see the ridge of Cimone descending towards the peaks of Caviojo and Quota Neutra, on the left a vast part of the val d’Astico with the rocky wall of the Cimoncello, on the right the val Posina. Beyond the valleys, you can see the Asiago Plateau with Monte Cengio and the ridge of Monte Summano, mount Novegno-Priaforà, up to the massif of Pasubio.
