Stage 6: Ciottulu di i Mori → Manganu

22 km from Refuge Ciottulu di i Mori (1991 m) to Refuge de Manganu (1601 m), with 970 m of ascent and 1360 m of descent.

Walking time by fitness profile

Times computed with the RandoNav planning algorithm. Breaks not included.

On the trail

At 22 km this is the longest stage of the northern half, but the trail spends much of it being uncharacteristically kind. The morning descends past the Bergerie de Radule and its waterfalls into cool pine and beech forest, reaching the hotel at Castel di Vergio — the last full shop for days, so top up here — before climbing gently through the trees toward the high plateau.

Then comes the day's magic trick: Lac de Nino, a sheet of blue at 1,700 m ringed by pozzines — spongy, emerald-green grassy pools threaded with meandering streams — where half-wild horses and cows graze as if commissioned by the tourist board. It is the GR20's gentlest, strangest landscape, and an almost mandatory long lunch stop. The afternoon rolls on past the Bergeries de Vaccaghia across open grazing country before a final short climb to Refuge de Manganu, beside its trout stream at 1,601 m. Your feet will feel the kilometres, but this is the day the GR20 proves it can do pastoral as well as vertical.

Start / end

Stops along the way

These places between the endpoints let you split the stage into shorter days:

About this stage

Stage 6 links Refuge Ciottulu di i Mori (1991 m) with Refuge de Manganu (1601 m) over 22 km, climbing 970 m and descending 1360 m. This stage lies in the northern half of the GR20 (before Vizzavona), the rockier and more technical part of the trail. 3 stops punctuate the route, so you can split this stage into shorter days. Water is available at every stop on this stage. Full resupply (shop) is possible at Castel di Vergio.