Route 1: Starting altitude 1,093 m (Molè)

Route 2: Starting altitude 1,150 m (Case Agostino-Cara d’Talè)

Finish at the mountain hut: 1,986 m
Total elevation gain: 893 m from Molè – 836 m from Case Agostino

Difficulty: E

From Giaveno, follow the road towards Coazze for 3 km; at the junction, continue along the valley floor, passing through the hamlets of Sangonetto and Forno di Coazze.

There are two main routes up to the refuge.

The first starts at the junction for the hamlet of Molè, just past the imposing sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes in Forno di Coazze, where you can leave your car. Once you have reached the hamlet, from the Church of St Anthony take the path on the left, marked with trail marker no. 415. After passing through a forest of birch and beech trees, you reach the moraine ridge and continue along the ridge on the left bank of the Rio della Balma, until you rejoin the path coming from Prese Agostino.

 The second route allows you to shorten the walk by starting about a hundred metres further upstream. Continue by car past the Sanctuary and the ‘I Pianas’ campsite for a few hairpin bends; pass the junction on the left for Colle della Roussa and the Sellery mountain pastures (Palazzina Sertorio, Rifugio Fontana Mura) and, shortly afterwards, near some mountain huts (Prese Agostino) and an information board, leave your car in a small car park. 

It is advisable to park before the barrier leading to the Pianeiretto ski lifts, which is closed after 6.00 pm.

The path climbs through the birch copse until, within a few minutes, it reaches the right bank of the Rio della Balma. At this point, there are two options: either cross the stream via the ‘Tibetan bridge’ and head further into the woods, climbing until you meet the path coming from Molé; or you do not cross the stream and continue along the path known as the ‘Partisan Trail’ or ‘Military Trail’, crossing the stream further upstream once you have emerged from the woodland.

Once the two paths rejoin, continue on the left-hand side (as you face the stream) close to the stream, reaching a first fountain; the path now winds its way uphill to an altitude of 1,650 metres, where it resumes its diagonal course amongst the last birch trees and skirts a ridge from which the next stretch of the valley comes into view.

The path alternates between diagonal sections and short hairpin bends, crossing a few scree slopes, then makes a final series of short zigzags before reaching the ridge from which the refuge comes into view. After a few hundred metres, you come to a second fountain, the “Funtena du Roc”, and continue on until you reach a pleasant stretch halfway up the hillside that leads to the Balma Mountain Hut.