Path Thirteen Lakes

The itinerary is functional to an area with distinctive landscape, natural, and historical elements. The area of the 13 Lakes is a Site of Regional Importance (SIR). The "Protected Areas and Natura 2000 Network" are a delineation of sites of local natural interest proposed by the Piedmont Region within the Bioitaly Project (Ministry of the Environment) – former L.R. 47/1995, now constituting nodes of the Regional Ecological Network. The basin of the thirteen lakes is framed by the Cappello d’Envie (2,618 m), the Passo della Cialancia (2,683 m), Punta Cialancia (2,855 m), the Passo Roux (2,830 m), and Punta Cournour (2,867 m), in the heart of the Val Gemanasca. The area is so named for the presence of thirteen small bodies of water of probable glacial origin. In addition to its natural beauty and picturesque views, the basin also offers several historical-military testimonies. In this area, there are the Perrucchetti Shelters (built between the 1800s and 1900s and dedicated to the founder of the Alpine Corps, Giuseppe Domenico Perrucchetti), various small abandoned barracks, and the military roads (routes 201 and 230), which ascend from the valley along the surrounding slopes. At Lake Ramella, there are also two cannon barrels, remnants of the four used in June 1940 by the 149th artillery battery of the Frontier Guard during the battle of the Western Alps.