Several thousand years of people have been scratching pictures onto the rocks of Val Camonica, and the oldest are thought to be roughly eight thousand years old. The valley runs north from Lake Iseo in Lombardy, following the Oglio river up to the Tonale pass, and its glacier-polished sandstone slabs turned out to be an ideal canvas. The Camuni, an Iron Age people, carved thousands of figures: hunters, deer, warriors, ploughs, huts, dancing figures and a swirling sun-like motif that is now the emblem of the Lombardy region, the Rosa Camuna. In 1979 this became Italy's first World Heritage site.
The Massi di Cemmo, near Capo di Ponte, are two giant boulders carved with stylised figures, the daggers, sun disks and animals of a late Copper and Bronze Age world. They are among the best-known single stones in the valley, and the park around them is a quiet and rather moving place, with green meadows and old chestnut trees. The better-known rock-art parks are a few minutes away, and they involve walks on wooded paths where slabs of rock appear, covered in carvings that are easiest to read in raking light early or late in the day.
Val Camonica is a long, busy valley, and the main road, the SS42, can be slow with local traffic and trucks, but the real attraction for riders is what leaves it. From Edolo, the road climbs to Aprica, and from here the Mortirolo and the Gavia, two of the hardest and most famous Alpine passes in cycling, are within reach, with the Gavia reaching just over two and a half thousand metres. Both are narrow and steep with variable surfaces, both are closed by snow for much of the year, and both reward careful riding with big views and thin air. The Tonale pass up the valley is wider and easier.
For fuel, Darfo Boario Terme at the southern end of the valley is large enough to have several stations, and smaller towns along the SS42 usually have at least one. Capo di Ponte has bars and trattorie, and local dishes tend to be hearty, with polenta, cured meats and casoncelli pasta. Summer afternoons bring thunderstorms to the mountains, so start early and keep an eye on the sky.