Monte Tamaro con discesa sul Carbon Trail

Tour recommended only for those who can ride mtb very well and do not suffer from vertigo. Easier variant, without the Tamaro - Neggia descent, here.

We go up to Mt. Tamaro by cable car (times and prices here), to save us 1000 lousy meters of elevation gain. The toughest part of the climb awaits you anyway, and you'll have another horrendous one at the end of it.

We climb 300 meters of elevation gain from Alpe Foppa to the Monte Tamaro Hut, always in the saddle if you are fit. I recommend a restorative break with the hut's homemade cakes and some excellent, thirst-quenching elderberry syrup, also homemade.

Then begins the traverse to the Bocchetta below Mount Tamaro. It is quite exposed, although the trail is wide, and there is a push uphill section.

From the Bocchetta the wilder section begins, with some spectacular passages through rock-cut tunnels, all doable in the saddle.

The descent to Alpe di Neggia is the most technical part of the tour because of the very uneven trail.

From Alpe di Neggia (restaurant) starts the Carbon Trail, a description of which you can find here.

When you get to Lake Maggiore, you go all the way to Quartino on the flat and then start the climb up the darned Romana road. Very steep, if it's wet it even gets slippery (uphill).

By the way: the whole ride is to be avoided in wet weather, especially the descent on Neggia becomes unfeasible because of the slippery rocks. The best time is with north wind.

#montetamaro