Hiking - The Monte Armetta Loop

A well-marked loop that alternates between short sections of dirt tracks and easy trails, making for a highly rewarding hike without any strenuous and demanding climbs.

Monte Armetta is a summit with extremely panoramic views, seemingly suspended between the sea and the Alpine arc. The ascent is mostly on open, sunny, grassy slopes, while the final section of the loop runs through a conifer forest. The spring wildflowers are magnificent.

Below the Rifugio Pian dell'Arma (1339 m), follow the dirt track to the left; at the first junction, go up to the left until you reach a house.
A trail continues northeast on a gentle gradient through old terraces and reaches a fork: to the right, the path heads towards Colle San Bartolomeo, while the path to the left climbs to Monte Armetta.
Take the latter, climbing up a gully with tight switchbacks to reach the grassy ridge above. Bear left and ascend the gentle crest: you will cross a dirt track, then meet it again shortly after. Follow it to the right for about fifty meters, where you will join another, slightly larger dirt track.
Go left, again for only a few dozen meters: at a renovated cabin, leave the track and take the trail that branches off to the right. The trail runs alongside a low dry-stone wall on the left, then climbs quite steeply through meadows to reach Colla Bassa (1570 m), on the main watershed between the Tanaro and Pennavaire valleys.
Turn right; among grass and rocky outcrops the trail becomes fainter (but is well-marked by cairns), then becomes clear again and slowly gains elevation as it winds along the vast grassy ridge. After the trail for Ormea branches off to the left, climb the slightly steeper slope that leads to the summit of Monte Armetta (1744 m, 1h 25m from Rifugio Pian dell'Arma).
Retrace your steps to Colla Bassa where, instead of turning left towards the rifugio, you continue straight on, keeping slightly to the left of the crest. A short climb is followed by a section that traverses the hillside among pines and shrubs; along this path, ignore the turn-off on the right for Monte della Guardia.
After passing a transmitter, the path returns to the crest; now in a dense larch wood, you descend for a long stretch on a wide, grassy mule track until you reach a three-way junction: ignore the trail on the right to Alpisella and the mule track that continues straight on towards Colle di Caprauna, and turn left. After a short descent through mixed woodland, the mule track narrows into a trail and, ignoring a couple of forks on the right, leads you to the back of the Rifugio Pian dell'Arma (1339 m, 1h 20m from Colla Bassa).