The path of naturalists makes known many environmental values of which the territory of Solto Collina is rich. Walking along this path means enjoying lessons in geology, geomorphology, botany and perception of plant landscapes. The necessary information is distributed along the route through panels expertly placed in the most significant places for the naturalistic reading of this territory.

The path

After a few hundred meters of flat route, follow the indication on the left of the sign indicating the direction of San Defendente. After a not too tiring climb you reach the sanctuary located in a splendidly panoramic place on the lake where the view extends from Valcamonica to Mount Trentapassi, which rises imposingly from the waters of the lake, up to the middle lake with Monte Isola. The summit houses a geolabio which allows, from a panoramic viewpoint, to give a name to all the mountains that enclose the Sebino.

On the slope immediately below the panoramic viewpoint there are two resting points, one dedicated to the local rock and the other to the dry grassland that covers the slope. From the panoramic point, take a path northwards which leads first to cross a strip of thermophilic woodland with its characteristic species and then to pass next to the large glacial boulder, the last of the “Path of Giuseppe Nangeroni erratic boulders”.

Along the descent along the mule track that would lead to the chapel of San Rocco and then to the road, pay attention to the deviation to the right, indicated on the spot. This section of the route allows you to admire some erratic boulders and a grassy landscape shaped like a basin of karst origin. You arrive quickly and cross the paved road that connects Esmate with Cerrete; on the opposite side, go up towards Monte Clemo. The indications on the spot lead along a path that touches two reforestations: white pine, a conifer of American origin with long flexible needles, and black pine. There will also be encounters with erratic boulders, some of which are gigantic. After a few hundred meters of mule track, initially flat and then uphill, you reach the saddleback of the Valle dei Cani which also visually separates Mount Na, on the left, from Mount Clemo on the right. In this place there is a structure that indicates the presence of a fault, a tectonic fracture that separates the stratified black Zorzino limestone of Mount Na from the gray and massive dolomite of Mount Clemo. The route continues along a comfortable mule track and allows you to admire, after 200 m, a gigantic porphyry erratic boulder on the slope about ten meters from the route. The continuation of the path offers the possibility of reaching the top of Mount Clemo (780 meters) rather quickly, keeping to the left, or, keeping to the right, of descending quickly towards the paved road which then leads back to the parking lot at the cemetery.

How to arrive and where to park

The departure is fixed at the parking lot adjacent to the Esmate cemetery. From the car park, go back for a short distance towards Esmate and then turn left onto the road to Furmignano.