Cueva di Collepardo: A Limestone Cave Full of Tufas Where Laura Rogora Opened Several 9a Routes | Italy Climbing Crags

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Collepardo is a village of under a thousand people in the Monti Ernici, in the province of Frosinone in southern Lazio. On the slope of the Vallefiume valley outside the village is a limestone cave about 30 m high, full of tufas and stalactites, called La Cueva. Instructors from the Vertical Park climbing gym in Rome started bolting it in 2015 (Planetmountain 2016). Rome-born Laura Rogora then made the first ascents of a string of 8c+ to 9a routes here, turning it into central Italy's hard cave crag.

This post covers what to decide before you go: whether there is anything at your level, which months of the year you are allowed to climb, how to get there, and what the closure rests on. Grotti, also in Lazio, is central Italy's other big hard-sport crag. For a season-and-region comparison of Italian crags, see the series overview.

What kind of crag is it

One big cave, two walls. theCrag and Alpinisti d'Appennino both split the cave into a left and a right wall: the left has longer endurance routes, the right shorter, bouldery ones. The climbing is on tufas (canne) and concretions on steep rock; Climbook calls it "prevalentemente fisico e di resistenza" (mostly physical and endurance). Alpinisti d'Appennino recommends knee pads for the knee-bar rests between tufas.

Nearby areas. On the path, before the cave, is the small Cuevita sector (overhanging, small edges). Planetmountain wrote in 2016 that the valley has about a hundred routes in four main sectors: besides La Cueva there is La Pala, where the first lines went up in the 1990s, and Settore Classico and Grotta dei Bambocci, opened around 2003. Oliunid says La Pala and Classica are walls overhanging 20 to 40 degrees with 25 to 30 m routes, and that Rogora's Ercole 8c/+ and Sitting Bull 8c+/9a are there.

Scale. Numbers by source (checked October 2026):

Who it suits. Climbers solid at 7a who want to train endurance on steep tufas. Oliunid says there are many routes from 8b up, which "generally call for the ability to climb at least 7a". The easiest lines in the cave are around 6b; there is nothing for beginners.

When to go

Aspect and sun. Planetmountain lists it as NNE-facing and "in the shade all day long"; theCrag is more precise: the left wall is shaded all day, the right wall gets morning sun until about 14:00. Alpinisti d'Appennino gives the altitude as 830 m.

Rain. This is its strength. Planetmountain wrote in 2016 that it is climbable even on days of heavy rain; Alpinisti d'Appennino adds that, unless several unsettled days have made the tufas start to seep, almost the whole cave stays dry apart from a few routes outside the entrance. Planetmountain's 2019 news mentions that Rèveille-toi seeps in winter.

Months you can actually plan. Put the closure and the seasons together and you get August to December, best September to November.

Getting there

Public transport

Cotral runs a bus from Piazza Pertini in Frosinone via Alatri to Collepardo village (Via Marconi), taking about an hour. Aggregators that repackage Cotral's data (Moovit, busmaps) show only two or three buses a day, mostly on weekdays around school hours; the Cotral timetable search is the authority. The bus only reaches the village, and the parking is about 4 km further out on the SP115, so in practice you need a car.

Planetmountain puts Collepardo about 1.5 hours' drive southeast of Rome.

Driving

Alpinisti d'Appennino: leave the A1 at the Frosinone exit, take the SS156 towards Alatri / Fiuggi, and after Alatri turn right on the SP48 to Collepardo; in the village turn right on the SP115 towards Trisulti, keep left on the provincial road at the next fork, and after a few hairpins you reach the "Lo Scoiattolo da Anna" restaurant. From the Valle dell'Aniene, take the SR411 Sublacense towards Altipiani di Arcinazzo and then Alatri, and turn left for Collepardo.

Parking and approach

Park at the Lo Scoiattolo restaurant; theCrag says it is about 4 km from Collepardo along road 115 towards the Certosa di Trisulti. Take the path to the left of the restaurant: after a flat stretch it starts to descend. Alpinisti d'Appennino says you cross a fence and turn right at a junction to traverse the slope, reaching Cuevita first and the cave a few minutes later, about 15 minutes in all; theCrag marks it "Accesso ripido 10-20 minuti" (steep, 10 to 20 minutes). The walk out is uphill.

Rules to know before you go

Closed from 1 January to 31 July (secondary: Climbook update of May 2026, Alpinisti d'Appennino 2023, Oliunid 2023; no 2026 primary notice found). Climbook's crag page says "vige un divieto di arrampicata in tutto il comprensorio di Collepardo dal 1 gennaio al 31 luglio" (climbing is banned across the whole Collepardo area from 1 January to 31 July), noting a May 2026 update from the bolter Roberto Podio ("Limetta"). Alpinisti d'Appennino also gives "Interdizione dal 1 gennaio al 31 luglio", and Oliunid gives nesting raptors as the reason. The ban covers the whole climbing area, not just La Cueva. Climbook comments from about ten years ago say municipal police warned climbers at the parking at the time, and that the forest police (Forestale) would enforce it, with possible fines.

Where the rule comes from. Collepardo is on the list of municipalities in the Natura 2000 special protection area ZPS IT6050008 Monti Simbruini ed Ernici, managed by the Monti Simbruini regional park, where the Lazio regional conservation measures of DGR 612/2011 apply. A Circeo National Park notice cites the same rule: every year from 1 January to 31 July, approaching walls with nesting birds by climbing or other means is suspended. In 2020 the region applied the same measures to ban climbing from January to July at Peschio delle Cornacchie in the same ZPS (Planetmountain). No official map was found showing whether the cave itself lies inside the ZPS boundary. Before you go, ask the Vertical Park gym or the Monti Simbruini park.

Bolts and gear. Alpinisti d'Appennino lists 10 mm expansion bolts and stainless glue-ins, rating spacing and quality four stars; bring 12 to 14 quickdraws. Rope: 60 m is enough up to 7c+, but some of the harder extensions need 80 m (extensions on the left wall are 30 to 40 m long).

Rescue. CNSAS says that for an accident in the mountains or at a crag you call 118 or the European emergency number 112 and ask the operator to activate mountain rescue; the call is free.

Routes by level

YDS and V-grade conversions follow the Mountain Project international grade comparison chart and are approximate; "approx." marks grades the sources give without a/b/c (such as 4 or 5+). The original grade is the one that counts.

Many routes come as a first pitch plus an extension (L1, L2 or ext.): you can climb the first pitch on its own and lower from the intermediate anchor, while the extension goes through the roof and jumps two or three grades. Grades often differ by half a grade to a full grade between sites; the tables list both.

Beginner: up to 6a (YDS 5.10a and below)

None listed in the sources. The easiest routes in the cave are around 6b; the lowest on theCrag is 6a+.

Intermediate: 6a+ to 6c+ (YDS 5.10b–5.11c)

These are the short routes on the right side of the left wall; Climbook's three most-repeated lines are here, and everyone warms up on them.

Advanced: 7a to 7c+ (YDS 5.11d–5.13a)

Most first pitches on both walls are here. The right-wall routes are about 12 to 15 m with bouldery moves.

Expert: 8a and up (YDS 5.13b and up)

This is the core of La Cueva. Planetmountain listed Rogora's first ascents here in 2019, and most of the table comes from that list.

Outside the cave are Rogora's Ercole 8c/+ (2017) and Sitting Bull 8c+/9a (2018), which Oliunid places at La Pala / Classica; theCrag also lists Fabrizio Peri's The Bomb 9a (2020), which starts on Callagan and traverses about 10 m into Sitting Bull, with its location marked "unknown".

Where to look things up

• theCrag: Cueva di Collepardo: 67 routes, first-ascent records, sun on each wall and approach notes.
• Climbook: Collepardo (Cueva, Cuevita): repeat counts, grade corrections and the latest note on the closure.
• Alpinisti d'Appennino: Falesia La Cueva: full route lists for both walls, lengths, rope and driving directions.
• Planetmountain: Cueva di Collepardo: crag overview and a 31-route list.
• ZPS Monti Simbruini ed Ernici: the protected area's extent, manager and the regional rules that apply.
• Cotral timetable search: buses from Frosinone to Collepardo village.
• Guidebooks: Grades and route counts here come mainly from online databases; the guidebook is the authority.
  • Arrampica Roma Sud (Riccardo Innocenti, Idea Montagna, December 2016, Italian and English, 640 pages, ISBN 978-88-97299-92-9): 57 crags south of Rome; theCrag lists it as the guidebook here, and Oliunid's 2023 crag write-up follows it. La Cueva was only bolted from 2015, so Rogora's first ascents from 2016 on and newer routes after 2020 may not be in it; check them online.

References

• Planetmountain: Cueva di Collepardo
• Planetmountain: La Cueva di Collepardo - arrampicata nel cuore dei Monti Ernici (2016) (in Italian)
• Planetmountain: Laura Rogora fires Rèveille-toi, new 9a at Cueva of Collepardo (2019)
• Planetmountain: Divieto arrampicata a Peschio delle Cornacchie (2020) (in Italian)
• theCrag: Cueva di Collepardo
• Climbook: Collepardo (Cueva, Cuevita) (in Italian)
• Alpinisti d'Appennino: Falesia La Cueva – Collepardo, Monti Ernici (2023) (in Italian)
• Oliunid: Seven summer climbing crags in Umbria, Lazio and Abruzzo (2023)
• parks.it: ZPS Monti Simbruini ed Ernici (IT6050008) (in Italian)
• parks.it: Circeo National Park, climbing ban on the Promontorio del Circeo (in Italian)
• Cotral: Timetable search (in Italian)
• Moovit: Cotral Frosinone → Collepardo
• busmaps: Cotral Fr71d Collepardo → Frosinone
• CNSAS: Requesting rescue (in Italian)
• Idea Montagna: Arrampica Roma Sud