Cima di Morissolo, with its distinctive 3 crosses, is as panoramic as it is easy to reach. In less than half an hour of level walking we can reach one of the most panoramic summits on the whole of Lake Maggiore. And the track that leads there is so wide that the summit lends itself perfectly to an afternoon or night-time outing, to admire the lake from above at sunset or after dark.
What is more, the summit is riddled with a series of tunnels, part of the Linea Cadorna, a defensive line built during the First World War between 1915 and 1917, but never used. The very road up to Morissolo, cut across the slopes of Morissolino, was part of the same military works and served to bring weapons to the Morissolo batteries.
You can park in a large car park opposite the Istituto Auxologico Piancavallo (m1240). On the way out we can climb Morissolino, first following the tarmac road uphill for a few hundred metres, then taking the path on the right for Morissolino. From Morissolino (m1410, 30 minutes) we then follow the whole ridge to Cima di Morissolo (m1311, 20 minutes).
Near Morissolo lies a maze of tunnels and emplacements for 4 cannons that fired 80kg shells up to 14km away. On the right, outside the batteries, we find a small metal ladder with chains that takes us up to the fore-summit of Morissolo. From here the view opens out immensely over 50km of Lake Maggiore.
For the return we take the level military dirt road instead, which brings us back to Piancavallo in under half an hour (30 minutes).
