GermanToday we drove the Strada dei Cannoni. The route offers very, very beautiful scenery. The road is in excellent condition, with no major potholes or coarse gravel/rock. We noticed that the mapped route and the downloadable GPX file don’t match. The start of the mapped route near Villar San Costanzo is closed and impassable. The official route begins in the valley near the village of Busca; on Google Maps, the starting point is marked as “Parkplatz Str dei Cannoni.” The route also extends beyond the Colle di Sampeyre summit. It ends at the Colle della Bicocca summit. From there, however, you’ll need to ride back at least as far as the Colle di Sampeyre summit to get back onto paved roads. Overall, the route is fairly easy to ride and not technically demanding. It is definitely suitable for beginners and has a relatively low difficulty level.
Varaita-Maira-Ridge Road
This challenging tour leads 33 km on narrow paths along mountain slopes from Dronero on the SP 24 up towards Sampeyre on the SP 8.
The tour starts in the village of Villar San Costanzo. First you ride along a section with many hairpin bends on a narrow road through the forest to a plateau with wonderful views. Then the gravel road begins. The first part leads over rough gravel and is peppered with potholes. At Colle Birrone there is a summit cross where you can enjoy the landscape and have a wonderful view of the mountains and the Maira and Varaita valleys. The track then becomes very narrow and winds its way along steep slopes on a loose, stony surface. At the end point, Colle di Sampeyre, another breathtaking panoramic view of the Alps awaits. To get back to the starting point, it is worth taking the single-lane road via the village of Elva, which is full of hairpin bends and leads through several tunnels to the SP 422.
Latest reports
Conditions, closures and tips — from members who drove here recently.
The route itself is open, BUT: Access is limited to vehicles under 2.5 tons. In the 2025 atlas, vans were still listed as “unclear.” Details on the municipality’s ordinance can be found here: https://www.comune.busca.cn.it/uploads/6867aa9c9ea70_REGOLAMENTO_STRADA_DEI_CANNONI.pdf
The road is open to traffic again, though according to my interpretation of the sign, only on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Perhaps someone who speaks Italian better can confirm this. The sign is posted on both sides of the road—in fact, several times along the route.
Very beautiful route. Coming from Villar San Constanze, there is a sign from the 1st third that the road is closed due to construction work. Further on there is a roadworks sign. As things stand today, you can ignore them all, the route is completely free and there was also occasional oncoming traffic.
Very nice route. Easy to ride, no problems. Insider tip! Hardly any traffic
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Too bad—you were probably just lucky that the road wasn't closed to vans yet.
The route is still CLOSED!
Italy
