Passo di Vaia: a mountain unpaved road to the summit
Passo di Vaia/Alpe di Vaia is a high mountain pass at an elevation of 2.114m (6,935ft) above the sea level, located in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy. The pass is traversed by the challenging SP345B.
The road to the summit, also known as Alpe di Vaia is called Strada Provinziale 345B, also known as Delle Tre Valli. It’s 17.4 km long and the surface is unpaved with high cliffs unprotected by guardrails. It runs almost entirely over 2.000 meters above the sea level. In some places is only wide enough for one vehicle, and in many places bordered by a drop of hundreds of meters (many hundreds of feet) is unprotected by guardrails.
Strada Provinziale 345B starts off the Anfo ridge road, in Passo del Maniva, and ends in the junction with the SP 669 road. The road still remains an adrenaline-pumping journey and is definitely not for the faint of lungs, heart, or legs. The road can be travelled in the two ways. The speed limit is 20 km/h. It starts and ends asphalted, but the middle section is graveled. It’s totally rideable despite of the many rocks and deteriorated surface especially in curves. It has a speed limit of 20 km/h and is forbidden to overtake or stopping outside the parking areas. It runs for most of the time on top of the mountains.