Dalla Val Bedretto alla Val Formazza e ritorno

One of the most beautiful routes in the Central Alps. It can be done either starting from Ossasco (Switzerland) or from Riale (Italy).

You start from Ossasco, in Val Bedretto, and follow the Nufenen Pass road to the pass. The climb is long and all on asphalt, but it is one of the great climbs in the Alps, so it will give you satisfaction once you get to the top, where there is a bar to refresh yourself if you want.

Head down into the Valais, and on the second switchback you leave the pass road and head for Gries Lake.

You will see that the road is officially closed due to rockfall, but everyone passes through. EDIT: in August 2023 they put up a gate to prevent people from passing:

Don't go through it in rain or bad weather, there is a risk of the mountain collapsing on you. Pedal quickly and get out of the danger zone quickly.

This will take you up to the fans overlooking the beautiful Gries Lake. From here a magnificent trail starts, descending to the lake and then skirting it until it takes us to the Italian border, where the long descent to Val Formazza begins.

This descent was put in place a few years ago, but its difficulty varies depending on the erosion caused by the water.

It thus descends to the Bättelmatt plain and Lake Morasco. The trail in this part is technical but very enjoyable.

We then arrive in Riale, where I highly recommend you stop for lunch or at least get something to eat, because now we go up to Passo San Giacomo passing through Lake Toggia.

From the San Giacomo Pass we take the trail, recently widened for mountain bikes, and stay high above the Bedretto Valley. We do not descend to Acqua, where the official trail would lead (easy descent, if you want to avoid the technical sections that follow my trail instead), but we continue to stay high.

Past Alpe Cristallina the trail becomes an up and down with technical sections, as technical is the first part of the descent to Ossasco, which we reach by a path through the woods.