PNRC refuge
Petra Piana refuge
Perched at 1,850 m, Petra Piana offers one of the most open views on the GR20. It's also the start of the famous ridge variant that reaches l'Onda along the heights.
Essentials
The essentials
Key facts
- Altitude · 1,850 m
- Distance · km 72.5 from Calenzana
- On the trail · Between Manganu and l'Onda
- Capacity · 25 beds + bivouac
- Coordinates · 42.1981, 9.0523
- Management · PNRC · staffed refuge
Book this refuge
Bedding: dorm bunk, PNRC tent or bivouac (subject to availability).
Booking is compulsory on the Park's official system, by date and place. Refuges are staffed from 16 May to 4 October 2026.
A sleeping bag is required (no blankets provided); meals are ordered from the warden, not online.
On the ground
The refuge on the ground
The refuge serves breakfast, half board and runs a small shop. From here, two options: the airy, panoramic ridge variant, or the standard valley route — your call depending on weather and form.
At the foot of Monte Rotondo (~1,842 m), it's one of the first two refuges built by the Park in 1971, at the origins of the GR20; its roof sweeping down to the ground makes it easy to spot.
Facilities — indicative, confirm with the warden
Our traverse
Our night up here
We reached Petra Piana at 19h19 on the evening of day 6, after nearly twelve hours out from the Vergio col — our longest day on the GR20, and my only real crash, saved earlier by a long break facing the Melo and Capitello lakes. The relief was huge, but the stage didn't end there: pitch the bivouac, eat, sort out the water, get the packs ready. Arriving this late costs you on the evening routine; that night, the essential was done.
The day had given a lot all the same: very kind conditions, the pozzines, the water, the ridgelines, that feeling of crossing one of the great sectors of the north. When we woke, we had been walking for a week, and Vizzavona already filled our heads — more than a point on the map, the break between north and south. We set off at 06h44 for the long descent, carried by the promise of a shower and a real bed.
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