Schievo Cave

The 'excursion begins at a bend on the S. S. 83 Marsicana, at the Valico di Barrea: from a dirt road originates Paths K2, K3 and K4: we keep on the central path to take K3. This is initially a comfortable dirt road that, at a clearing crosses Path L2: from here you begin to skirt the Rio Torto, continuing on the right and leaving L2 with its small wooden bridge crossing the stream on the left. From here on, K3 becomes a typical forest path with a bottom often "stuffed" with dry leaves; the stream is always present on the left side of the trail, with spectacular small waterfalls. After a while, in order to admire the waterfalls and head to the Grotto, it is necessary to take a "variant" of K3, which initially skirts the latter, and then climbs sharply up the side of the Serrone, a plateau that touches 1800 meters above sea level, and is very steep and rocky at its base. From this point, in fact, the trail, hitherto gently sloping, climbs with marked gradient, sometimes with series of switchbacks. The stream has several other small waterfalls, up to the main one, over which the trail extends with a slight detour. It is a spectacular drop, several tens of meters long, a true wonder nestled in the forest. The path continues and climbs, until it reaches below a large rocky outcrop, also very beautiful; with a turn and a slight descent it reaches the Schievo Cave.