Hike in Val Codera Novate – Rifugio Brasca ( Sentiero Roma first stage)

A valley of 45 square kilometers of territory with no road access, which has managed to maintain an intact natural environment, crossed by footpaths connecting ancient rural clusters and alpine pastures. An area that allows the visitor to enjoy a wide variety of landscapes: from panoramic views of Lake Mezzola, to the canyons carved by the Codera River and the Val Mala, from the fairy-tale chestnut forests of the mid-valley to the glacial cirques of the Averta and Arnasca valleys. Far from everything, Codera, the small capital of the valley, reflects this isolation: a village shaped in granite, secluded and solitary, lived all year round by a handful of steadfast villagers and enthusiasts. You can start on foot directly from the Novate Mezzola train station or by car reaching the hamlet of Mezzoalpiano, leaving your car in one of the parking lots in the area. The mule track immediately rises evenly through the woods with beautiful stretches of stone steps. You quickly gain altitude and reach a more open area under some rock walls, where a final series of steps leads out of the steepest section.

After passing a chapel, placed in a splendid panoramic position, the path continues passing through the locality of Avedée, and with some ups and downs continues in the beautiful woods of the Val Codera until reaching the village of Codera, where there are some refuges with food and accommodation options.

From Codera it is possible to continue the walk to Bresciadega. The mule track sometimes alternates with a dirt road, crossing streams and creeks several times, and after a stretch in a pine forest, it allows you to reach the wide clearing of Bresciadega (1214 m), where the homonymous refuge is located. Leaving the wide meadow, continuing to the end of which it is possible to reach the Brasca refuge, starting point of many other high altitude routes.