Meeting at 08:30 at the Barrea Tourist Office. Meet the guide and short transfer by private vehicles to the trailhead.
The hike climbs into the beech forest of Valle dell’Inferno, where autumn colors glow in shades of yellow, copper, and ochre. After about two hours, we reach the karst basin of Lago Vivo, set among rocky mountains and centuries-old beech trees.
Lago Vivo, located at 1,591 meters, is a place of great naturalistic, geological, and cultural interest. In autumn, its water level and reflections change continuously, telling the story of the seasons: every year the lake is born, lives, disappears, and returns. The route continues through the great beech trees of Serrone, a quiet forest preserving traces of ancient glaciations carved into the stone. We reach a natural terrace overlooking the Rio Torto Valley, with views of the Monti della Meta range and the Molise Mainarde mountains, where a lunch break is planned. The descent follows beech forests, old mule tracks, dry-stone walls, and open clearings once used for grazing and farming, before returning to the starting point.