San Lucio - Monte Bar

The classic San Lucio - Monte Bar crossing is most beautiful when done counterclockwise.

Start in Tesserete, parking lot of the sports field, and follow the Cassarate on the paved road to Certara. From Certara you start to climb more steeply on a forest road that was renovated a year ago, thus arriving at Passo San Lucio after 1100 meters of ascent.

There are no less than 2 refuges here, one on the Swiss side and one on the Italian side. In fact, the bike in the photo rests exactly on the boundary stone.

From St. Lucio to Piandanazzo the famous trail of the actual traverse awaits you. It is a continuous up and down, with technical and some exposed sections that require a lot of strength in the hocks to be closed in the saddle.

The views of Lake Lugano and the surrounding mountains are fantastic.

From Piandanazzo you follow the forest road to the Monte Bar hut (another refreshment point), after which you follow it downhill for a short distance and then leave it on a path through the meadows to the actual trailhead.

The first part of the trail to Davrosio is easy but rather rocky. The first part after Davrosio also remains rocky, and then becomes a nice singletrack in the middle of the woods, with two small uphill tears, until you get just above Tesserete and close the loop.

#lugano