The ermitage – in the heart of the mountain

Malcesine’s inland is mostly known for its Monte Baldo cableway, leading to one of the most spectacular viewpoints of Lake Garda, the terrace on top of Monte Ventrar at 1700m altitude.

Obviously, most of the tourists head straight to the top, it’s a “shortcut to the beauty”: 20 minutes from the Castle and there you are, lake Garda at your feet! The Monte Baldo Cableway Tour is a popular experience among MTB lovers too, we warmly suggest it, although the price to pay isn’t just the gondola fare, it’s also a bit of queu and a somehow crowded place, which may not be exactly what all mountainbikers love. So, as Mountainbike Guides, we prefer to offer alternatives which probably most of DIY Tourists won’t easily find on their research for those pure mountain journeys they’re looking for.

If you like challenging tours, extreme steepness, wilderness, breathtaking views far from the crowd, and a bit of history, this is the tour for you:

A half day mountainbike tour for riders with good fitness level and skills on natural rocky surfaces, not for beginners.

After pedaling few hundred meters from the shore of Lake Garda, the first uphill will be immediately significant about what the whole ride will be. We won’t be cycling the “Via Panoramica” on asphalt, we’ll use all the steep cuts on the ancient alleys. This will be the warm up to then climb the steepest part, just before arriving at our first viewpoint: Malga Fiabio. The climb is partly on loose gravel and – fortunately – concrete when it gets really steep. Even dry and clean, the steepest sections are a real challenge, imagine when covered with leaves at the end of summer or after some rain… The view from here is stunning: just at 600m altitude, this flat meadow is a terrace towards north, and the glimpse of Alto Garda, The Paganella and Brenta dolomites won’t be easy to forget. From here onwards, the forestal road, in its natural conditions, with gravel, roots and big rocks, leads us to the highest point of the Tour.

Situated at around 800m altitude the little church dedicated to hermit Saints Benigno & Caro is still one of the most hidden gems of the area. The two lived here in a cave (it’s possible to visit it) around the 8th and 9th Century b.C. and the exact origin of the Chuch construction isn’t sure. The first notice about it is from year 1530, it’s anyhow impressive to reach this place and realize the hard work it took to the builders to carry all materials here without machinery. The uphill we ride nowadays isn’t the original trail to the church. There’s an even steeper path, built with the typical paved system of the area called “mulattiera” (mule track) which is today still in good conditions but it’s just for hikers.

Arrived at the top of our path, we’ll reach a steel cross where we will finally look at the view towards south lake Garda (Manerba, Salò) but also to some of the peakes of Monte Baldo: The Pala di San Zeno (1226m) Punta Manara (1672m) Punta Ciusole (1320) stand right vertically above us, giving the feeling of how immersive this place might have been – and still is – for those looking for the meditation moments that only wild nature gives.

As for many other places of Monte Baldo, the way back to the “civilization” seems a time machine journey, bringing us to modernity after having been suspended in a timeless dimension.