PROPOSED BY THE GUIDE
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Monte Armelio: a balcony over the Val Trebbia

Coli, Piacenza · Emilia-Romagna•1 day · Sunday•Hiking · 860 m
Experience
Day hikes
Difficulty ?
INTERMEDIATE
Where?
Piacenza, Emilia-Romagna
On your own?
No problem
Points
+14
Monte Armelio: a balcony over the Val Trebbia
Community photos
See all photos
Overview
The experience
Difficulty
What's included
Itinerary
Carpooling
What to bring
Your guide
Reviews
Questions
WHY THIS HIKE

Armelio: a balcony over Val Trebbia

The trail that climbs Monte Armelio winds through the heart of the Site of Community Importance "Monte Capra, Monte Tre Abati, Monte Armelio, Sant'Agostino, Lago di Averaldi", a natural area of the Piacenza Apennines perched on the ridge separating the Val Trebbia from the Val Nure, between the municipalities of Coli and Farini.

Group chat a couple of days before
Come alone, leave with new friends

The experience

Beneath your boots, here, you're not walking on just any Apennine mountain: you're walking on a fragment of ancient ocean floor. About 160 million years ago these rocks (basalts, gabbros, peridotites transformed into serpentinites) formed on the bottom of the ancient Ligurian-Piedmont Ocean; today they surface in only a few areas of the Apennines, concentrated almost exclusively between the upper valleys of Trebbia, Nure, Taro and Aveto. In the fractures of these very rocks, right at Monte Tre Abati, a stone's throw from here and part of the same protected complex, lizardite has been recorded, a green mineral of the serpentine group that is, literally, a chemical signature of that vanished ocean.

The landscape tells the story at a glance: ophiolites can be recognized from afar by their dark color, green hues and rugged shapes, which resist erosion more than the surrounding clays and sandstones, creating true "islands" of bare rock amid the green of the woods. As you climb, you pass through mixed woods of oaks, chestnuts, hazels and pine stands, gaining views over the Trebbia and Nure valleys.

From here, on the clearest days, you can observe the entire arc of the Piacenza Apennines: Parcellara, Penice, Lesima, Alfeo, Capra, Osero, Menegosa... and even the Alpine arc.

The rocky substrate, poor in nutrients and rich in metals, has over time selected a specialized flora, a small "natural botanical garden".

A route that combines geology, botany and scenery, in a corner of the Apennines still little known.

GOOD TO KNOW
Group chat
It opens a couple of days before: that's where the meeting point is confirmed and carpooling is arranged.
Free cancellation up to 2 days before
For the selected date: by 26 November, 23:59. You pay nothing when you book.
Guiddy accident insurance
Included in the price.
+14 Guiddy points
Your points grow with every outing, level you up and unlock discounts, exclusive outings and goodies.
Not suitable for dogs
This time your dog stays at home.

How hard is it, really

Guiddy scale
INTERMEDIATE
F
F+
I
I+
D
D+
480 m D+ · 10 km · 4 h
Exposure and exposed sections
NONE
No exposed sections reported on the route.
VERTIGO RISK
WHAT YOU NEED BEFORE YOU GO
✓
BEFORE YOU GO
Go to bed early, have a good breakfast and drink before you set off: you've got 4 h and 480 m of ascent ahead, if you go to the mountains a couple of times a month, you're fit enough
✓
IN YOUR BACKPACK
Warm layers, a windproof jacket, 1.5 litres of water and a headlamp: the days are getting shorter, plus poles. Always with you: a plaster, an antiseptic wipe and a small bag for rubbish

What's included in the price

✓INCLUDED
✓Certified Guide
✓Guiddy accident insurance
✕NOT INCLUDED
✕Packed lunch
✕Travel to Coli
To get there, there's Guiddy carpooling, below.

Itinerary

One day, approximate times. The final details come in the group chat.

Elevation gain
480 m
Max altitude
860 m
Distance
10 km
Duration
4 h
Sunday
29 Nov
10 km · D+ 480 m · 4 h
Map
The stops · 10 km
Meeting point 9:30approximate
Piazza Padre Pietro Gazzola 45, 29020 Coli provincia di Piacenza, Italia. The exact time is confirmed in the group chat. We usually meet a little earlier for breakfast together, when possible.
HOW TO GET THERE
09:30MEETING
Meeting point - Car park in Piazza Padre Pietro Gazzola, Perino (Coli, PC)
We'll meet in Perino (Coli, PC) in Piazza Padre Pietro Gazzola, in front of the church, before heading together to the starting point of the hike.
09:50PARKING
Departure of the hike
Car parking point and start of the trail
12:00VILLAGE
Marubbi Village
We'll hike a loop around Monte Armelio, passing along its eastern side on the way out, crossing small villages and rural areas within the protected SIC (Site of Community Importance) area. From Marubbi begins the real climb up the mountain.
13:00FOOD STOP
Summit of Monte Armelio
Weather permitting, we'll stop at the mountain summit for a packed lunch, where on clear days you can enjoy a view over the entire Piacenza Apennine range.
15:30RETURN
Return trail
We'll head back to the cars along the west side of the mountain, through much wilder terrain. At the start of the descent, the trail is more challenging due to the steep gradient and the nature of the ground.

How do you get to Coli? By carpooling.

You say so when booking, then you get organised in the Telegram group. Contacts and costs are agreed between you: a seat isn't guaranteed.

WHO'S ALREADY GOING
for the selected date
Offering a seat Looking for a seat
Cars are added in the last few days, once the group is confirmed.

What to bring

A list made for this hike. No technical gear: just good shoes and a well-packed backpack.

Trekking boots
REQUIRED
Windbreaker
REQUIRED
Water supply
REQUIRED
Packed lunch
REQUIRED
Trekking poles
REQUIRED
Change of clothes
RECOMMENDED
Thermal shirt
RECOMMENDED

Your guide

Guide for this date · Sunday 29 November
Matteo S.
Matteo S.
· 3 outings
We'll email you when they have a new outing on the calendar.

Hi Guidders! 🧡 I'm Matteo, an environmental hiking guide, raised among the fields, villages, vineyards and trails of the Emilian Apennines. Over the years I've travelled a lot, for work and for pleasure, but I've never stopped feeling deeply tied to my own country: the Val Trebbia. Today I take people out to discover these places through slow, genuine experiences, made of footsteps, silences, stories and encounters that leave something behind. I love showing the details that make a place singular, which is why every outing is designed as a complete experience: there's often a tasting, a visit or a special meeting, so we really live what we've crossed instead of merely looking at it. If you love walking with curiosity and finding genuine places with the Guidders, we understand each other. 🥾🌿 See you in the mountains, Guidders!

Italiano
Inglese
Guida Ambientale Escursionistica

Reviews

Only from people who completed the outing.
—
no reviews yet
Itinerary—
Organisation—
Overall experience—
Ibex
The first reviews come after the outing
We only ask for feedback from people who were really there.

You'll be among the first to share your story.

Questions?

I've only done easy trails, can I come?
⌄
Flat or slightly inclined sections with short stretches on steep slopes and rocks, not tiring or demanding. You need to be fit enough to walk for 4 h with 480 m of ascent. If in doubt, message Ibex on WhatsApp.
Can I join on my own?
⌄
How does carpooling work?
⌄
What happens if the weather is bad?
⌄
What if the group doesn't reach the minimum?
⌄
Until when can I cancel?
⌄
Book now, pay only if it goes ahead
MOST POPULAR
✓No charge now: the amount is only held on your card
✓Free cancellation up to 2 days before (for this date: 26 November, 23:59)
✓You're only charged once the group is confirmed, at 7 pm the evening before departure
✓Minimum not reached? No charge, nothing to do
Or pay straight away by card, PayPal, Satispay or Revolut. With Klarna you can also pay in interest-free instalments.
Ibex
Still have questions? Message Ibex
Ibex is Guiddy's virtual ibex: it answers everything, 24/7. In two messages it tells you whether this outing is for you, how to get there and what to pack.
Message Ibex on WhatsApp
No commitment: we're happy to answer even just for advice.
Monte Armelio: a balcony over the Val Trebbia

Monte Armelio: a balcony over the Val Trebbia

Coli, (PC) · Emilia-Romagna
1 day · Hiking · 860 m
New: you'll be among the first Guidders to do it
Elevation gain
480 m
Max altitude
860 m
Distance
10 km
Exposed sections
None
Duration
4 h
Guiddy points
+14
6 photos
+2 photos
WHY THIS HIKE

Armelio: a balcony over Val Trebbia

The trail that climbs Monte Armelio winds through the heart of the Site of Community Importance "Monte Capra, Monte Tre Abati, Monte Armelio, Sant'Agostino, Lago di Averaldi", a natural area of the Piacenza Apennines perched on the ridge separating the Val Trebbia from the Val Nure, between the municipalities of Coli and Farini.

Come alone, leave with new friends

The experience

Beneath your boots, here, you're not walking on just any Apennine mountain: you're walking on a fragment of ancient ocean floor. About 160 million years ago these rocks (basalts, gabbros, peridotites transformed into serpentinites) formed on the bottom of the ancient Ligurian-Piedmont Ocean; today they surface in only a few areas of the Apennines, concentrated almost exclusively between the upper valleys of Trebbia, Nure, Taro and Aveto. In the fractures of these very rocks, right at Monte Tre Abati, a stone's throw from here and part of the same protected complex, lizardite has been recorded, a green mineral of the serpentine group that is, literally, a chemical signature of that vanished ocean.

The landscape tells the story at a glance: ophiolites can be recognized from afar by their dark color, green hues and rugged shapes, which resist erosion more than the surrounding clays and sandstones, creating true "islands" of bare rock amid the green of the woods. As you climb, you pass through mixed woods of oaks, chestnuts, hazels and pine stands, gaining views over the Trebbia and Nure valleys.

From here, on the clearest days, you can observe the entire arc of the Piacenza Apennines: Parcellara, Penice, Lesima, Alfeo, Capra, Osero, Menegosa... and even the Alpine arc.

The rocky substrate, poor in nutrients and rich in metals, has over time selected a specialized flora, a small "natural botanical garden".

A route that combines geology, botany and scenery, in a corner of the Apennines still little known.

How hard is it

Guiddy scale
INTERMEDIATE
F
F+
I
I+
D
D+
480 m D+ · 10 km · 4 h
WHAT YOU NEED BEFORE YOU GO
✓
BEFORE YOU GO
Go to bed early, have a good breakfast and drink before you set off: you've got 4 h and 480 m of ascent ahead, if you go to the mountains a couple of times a month, you're fit enough
✓
IN YOUR BACKPACK
Warm layers, a windproof jacket, 1.5 litres of water and a headlamp: the days are getting shorter, plus poles. Always with you: a plaster, an antiseptic wipe and a small bag for rubbish

What's included

INCLUDED
✓Certified Guide
✓Guiddy accident insurance
NOT INCLUDED
✕Packed lunch
✕Travel to Coli

Itinerary

Sunday · approximate times
Map
Stops · 10 km
Meeting point 9:30Coli
We usually meet a little earlier for breakfast together, when possible.
09:30MEETING
Meeting point - Car park in Piazza Padre Pietro Gazzola, Perino (Coli, PC)
We'll meet in Perino (Coli, PC) in Piazza Padre Pietro Gazzola, in front of the church, before heading together to the starting point of the hike.
09:50PARKING
Departure of the hike
Car parking point and start of the trail
12:00VILLAGE
Marubbi Village
We'll hike a loop around Monte Armelio, passing along its eastern side on the way out, crossing small villages and rural areas within the protected SIC (Site of Community Importance) area. From Marubbi begins the real climb up the mountain.
13:00FOOD STOP
Summit of Monte Armelio
Weather permitting, we'll stop at the mountain summit for a packed lunch, where on clear days you can enjoy a view over the entire Piacenza Apennine range.
15:30RETURN
Return trail
We'll head back to the cars along the west side of the mountain, through much wilder terrain. At the start of the descent, the trail is more challenging due to the steep gradient and the nature of the ground.

How do you get to Coli? By carpooling.

You say so when booking, then you get organised in the Telegram group.

WHO'S ALREADY GOING
for this date
Offering a seat Looking for a seat
Cars are added in the last few days, once the group is confirmed.

What to bring

A list made for this hike.
Trekking boots
REQUIRED
Windbreaker
REQUIRED
Water supply
REQUIRED
Packed lunch
REQUIRED
Trekking poles
REQUIRED
Change of clothes
RECOMMENDED
Thermal shirt
RECOMMENDED

Your guide

Sunday 29 November
Matteo S.
Matteo S.
3 outings with Guiddy
Guida Ambientale Escursionistica

Hi Guidders! 🧡 I'm Matteo, an environmental hiking guide, raised among the fields, villages, vineyards and trails of the Emilian Apennines. Over the years I've travelled a lot, for work and for pleasure, but I've never stopped feeling deeply tied to my own country: the Val Trebbia. Today I take people out to discover these places through slow, genuine experiences, made of footsteps, silences, stories and encounters that leave something behind. I love showing the details that make a place singular, which is why every outing is designed as a complete experience: there's often a tasting, a visit or a special meeting, so we really live what we've crossed instead of merely looking at it. If you love walking with curiosity and finding genuine places with the Guidders, we understand each other. 🥾🌿 See you in the mountains, Guidders!

We'll email you when they have a new outing on the calendar.

Reviews

— · none yet
Ibex
The first reviews come after the outing
Only from people who were really there.

You'll be among the first to share your story.

Questions?

I've only done easy trails, can I come?
⌄
Flat or slightly inclined sections with short stretches on steep slopes and rocks, not tiring or demanding. You need to be fit enough to walk for 4 h with 480 m of ascent. If in doubt, message Ibex on WhatsApp.
Can I join on my own?
⌄
How does carpooling work?
⌄
What happens if the weather is bad?
⌄
What if the group doesn't reach the minimum?
⌄
Until when can I cancel?
⌄
Ibex
Still unsure? Message Ibex on WhatsApp →
Sun 29 Nov
€16
per person
Book now →
Pay only if confirmed