Tour of the Hill Fortress Ruins above the Maggia River at Ponte Brolla

Wednesday October 28, 2026 -- On this, Urs' day off, the weather wasn't ideal in the north again, and we really don't mind traveling south to the Ticino at this time of year when the trees still have some leaves and the weather is mild.

Because I had done that very long hike the day before (photos HERE), and had the beginnings of a cold, we opted for a shorter hike than usual, starting at Ponte Brolla at the junction with the Maggia Valley, and climbing up a small hill to the ruins of a former fortress which stood guard here over the Pedemonte Region in Roman times. (From here the views down into the Melezza Valley and up toward the Centovalli are usually spectacular, but because it was rather hazy, we didn't get the full value of the climb!). The trail we were following is a themed trail called the "Giro delle Rovine del Castelliere" (Tour of the Castelliere Ruins), which also includes the trail to the St.Anna Oratorio, perched high above the valley further to the west. 

As we had been to the St.Anna Oratorio at least three times previously and had done the descent to Verscio, and at this point we didn't feel like doing the additional ascent, we simply descended to the nearer village of Tegna and waited for the Centovalli train there, and detoured to have a look at the village church. As it turns out, this was a good decision, as the train didn't come, and we found out it was stuck on the rails somewhere further up the valley. As we were only one kilometer away from the Ponte Brolla bus stop where we had started the hike, we were able to walk there and catch the bus back to Locarno, arriving there 30 minutes later than planned, but still earlier than the train, which we were not even sure if it had ever arrived.... 

After leaving home at 7:45, we got to the Ponte Brolla Bus stop at about 10:35, from where we are starting our hike. Before crossing the bridge here over the Maggia River, we did a little detour to look down at the river. Also, we could see across the river the hill that we were going to climb!

The Centovalli Train is just crossing the Ponte Brolla bridge on the way to Locarno. (There used to be a train stop here, but there is currently construction going on, to build a new station, and the train currently doesn't stop here, thus the bus). 

As we cross the Ponte Brolla bridge, this is a view up the valley here, toward the Centovalli Valley at the back left, and the Onsernone Valley at the back on the right, where we recently did a hike on October 14th. Also visible is the high bell tower in Tegna, which is ultimately where we descended to (we didn't end up walking to the St.Anna Oratorio). 

We are starting our hike by walking into the Maggia Valley, parallel to the Maggia River here. 

"Ristorante da Enzo" is closed on Wednesday... Urs checked the sign at the gate. Maybe he wanted to stop for a coffee? But their menu sure looked good! Maybe a different trip, not on a Wednesday. 

Our trail follows the west side of the river, but we took a detour over the bridge here, over the Maggia River. The view is up the Maggia Valley. (This is the former railway bridge as there used to be a railway line into the valley). 

Look, there we are below!

The Maggia River has carved some fascinating formations out of the rock here. This is looking on the south side of the old bridge.

This is part of the Themed Trail "Tour of the Ringfort Ruins", which we are walking in the opposite direction as the description on our Hiking Site. 

This is the description of the "Tour of the Ringfort Ruins", but described in the opposite way we were going to walk it. Originally we were going to continue to St.Anna's Oratorio high on the hill, and descend to Verscio, just like on this map, but we'd been to the Oratorio several times and didn't feel like doing the extra climb, so we descended to Tegna.  

The water of the Maggia River is a pure transparent turquoise colour. But you can see that there is little water in the riverbed, due to the heat waves we have had this year. 

As we headed around the "corner" to the north side of the hill, a look back at the old railway bridge where we had detoured to. There really is very little water in the river. Side note: We had walked this stretch of the trail once before in 2014, but in the other direction, coming out of the valley after a round tour to Avegno. 

We passed some very attractive stone houses at the foot of the hill on the north side. This was all in the shadow of the mountain, but it was not cold. 

Interesting how the people have used the landscape to create cellars in spaces below the large boulders. 

Then started the uphill section on the north side of the hill. For most of our "climb", the trail was a stairway of flat stones, which made the ascent actually quite easy. 

A little hamlet of stone houses before our ascent. 

Such a cute little cluster of mushrooms!

The little hamlet here is called Gropp. On the trail markers, the time listed to get to the fortress ruins is 45 minutes from here. 

From here it should take 45 minutes to reach the fortress ruins. We are following the themed trail no.637: "Giro delle Rovine del Castelliere". It is now 11:25. 

What a beautiful fungus! Even though it's highly poisonous....

The view north into the Maggia Valley as we now climb up the mountain. 

Most of the uphill trail was on this set of stone steps. It was easy going, because the height of each step was perfect so that it was not strenuous. 

By 12:05 we reached the site of the ruins, exactly 45 minutes after starting out on the climb, an ascent of 240 meters. 

We then headed to the summit for our lunch break.  (Side note: In January 2016 we climbed all the way up on that hill just to the west of here, and this is the view we had of the hilltop fortress from there.)

A lovely mild day in the Ticino mountains, and a great place for our picnic lunch!

We stayed up here for quite a while. 

View north into the Maggia Valley. 

From the summit here, this is the view up the valley toward the Centovalli. On this side of the hillside you can see the St.Anna Oratorio which is the next stop on this tour, but it requires a descent before climbing up again. This whole region is called the Pedemonte. (The first time we had been at the Oratorio and descended to Verscio was in December 2016, having come from the upper side of the valley, photos HERE). 

The upper part of the fortress ruins at the summit where we had our picnic lunch. During archeological digs, no items were found here so it is hard to date this structure. It is assumed that this was a small, medieval tower. 

View down from the summit onto the lower part of the fortress ruins, with a view toward Lago Maggiore and Monte Gambarogno to the southeast. There is a lot of haze over the lake there.

A closer look at what has been excavated of the hilltop fortress. Items found during excavations indicate that this site was also used in prehistoric times, as well as by the Romans to about the year 300 A.D. (More information in German and Italian on THIS WEBSITE). 

The walls of the hilltop fortress which have been excavated and re-built. 

On the other side of the excavation site, we discovered a look-out point with a panorama panel. The air was hazy so we couldn't see many details further away. 

Our view this day, of the Maggia River heading to Locarno and Lago Maggiore, which we cannot see in this hazy light. (The first time we had walked to the St.Anna Oratorio on this hillside on December 26, 2016, this was the clearer view in this direction, photo HERE.) 

Close-up look at the construction site of the Ponte Brolla station near where we started on our hike. The nearer River is the Maggia, and the further is the Melezza, which comes out of the Centovalli to join the Maggia River here. Both rivers have very little water. 

This is the stairway to the look-out point, a series of steps carved into the rock!

After spending 45 minutes up here, we continued on our hike at 1:55 p.m. Originally we were planning to walk to Verscio via St.Anna Oratorio, but decided to descend sooner to Tegna. 

While we were up at the summit of the small hill at the ruins, we decided it wasn't worth it to us to continue to the Oratorio St.Anna, because that meant another climb. Plus we did that trail at least three times previously, and the air was kind of hazy. So we descended to Tegna, where we were planning to take the train back to Locarno. But then our train got stuck somewhere along the way, so we walked the 15 minutes back to Ponte Brolla where we started, and took the bus from there, fully closing the loop of our walk for the day. It was a "short" walk, less than 2-1/2 hours.

Heading back down from the site of the ruins to continue walking along the hillside heading westward. 

In these forests in the Ticino there are often ruins of stone houses, as the hillsides were once covered in chestnut orchards for the harvest, but as it no longer became financially viable, it was all abandoned. 

Here we pass through a site called Monte Forcola, where someone obviously likes to create picnic tables out of large rock slabs! We also passed through here on our January 2019 hike, when we started in Tegna below and hiked all the way up to the summit called Colma. Here is a photo of me at the time with some of the picnic tables! --> HERE.  

At this junction we could have continued up to the St.Anna Oratorio straight ahead and up those stairs, or head down to Tegna to the left of the stairs. As the views weren't that great this day, we decided to forego the second ascent, as we had been there several times before. From here, we then descended to Tegna at the valley bottom, a 15-minute descent. (To climb to the Oratorio from here was another 20 minutes, and ultimately one hour to Verscio). HERE is a photo from when we passed this place on the January 2019 hike. 

View down to the valley bottom which we will reach in about 15 minutes. 

It looks like there might have a been a water course channeled through here! But even on our hike near here in 2019, there was no water here. 

First views of the rooftops in Tegna. 

Heading down a long set of stairs through the houses. We love the tall palm trees!

Beautiful cacti! We don't see these often here. There might be a micro-climate here that is advantageous for Mediterranean-type vegetation!

More beautiful, tall palm trees! Near here our trail passes under the railway line. 

By 2 p.m. we are on the valley bottom south of the railway line, walking along some vineyards and heading to the Tegna train station. The Centovalli train just passed us headed west from Locarno toward Intragna and the Centovalli. (Our train to Locarno should come through here at 14:22, but as it turns out, our train got stuck before getting here). 

View of the hill where we had been at the ruins, as we head toward the train station in Tegna. 

At 14:05 we were at the train station in Tegna. There was enough time to go check out the nearby church before our expected 14:22 train connection. 

Graveyard at the Tegna church, "Beata Vergine Assunta"

As is often the case, there is documentation of a church here back to the first Century A.D, but this building in this form is from the 17th Century. The entrance doors are made of bronze instead of the more common carved wood.

Interior of the church with its two side altars. 

Details of the interior, including a beautiful ceiling. The side altars are built in Baroque style. 

A final look back at the church as we return to the train station at 14:15. The hill on the left is the location of the fortress ruins, which we climbed up to on this outing. 

By 14:15 we were back at the Tegna train station for the 14:22 train. When it didn't come on time, we checked the schedule, and found out that it was stuck on the railway line closer to Intragna, and a delay of at least 20 minutes was expected! As we knew that the Valle Maggia Bus stopped at Ponte Brolla (the bus we had taken to get there earlier) and that was only one kilometer away, and there was a bus at 14:50, we decided to walk there instead of waiting for the train.

We were glad we hadn't decided to wait in Tegna, because as we were already on our way walking to Ponte Brolla, it was now showing even more delay!

At 14:40 we were back at the Ponte Brolla bridge at the entrance to the Maggia Valley, with 10 minutes to spare for the bus!

Different lighting as we cross the Maggia River with a view up the valley. 

What our hike to the fortress ruins looks like on Google Satellite Maps, starting and ending at Ponte Brolla. First walking into the Maggia Valley, climbing up the north side of the small hill (only 280m ascent), then descending to Tegna, and returning to the bus stop at Ponte Brolla (because our train which we wanted to catch in Tegna was stuck somewhere further up the line). 

A view of the Maggia River as our bus heads to Locarno. There really is too little water here this year. 

All the hikes we have done in the Pedemonte Region near the south end of the Maggia Valley. 

Location of Maggia Valley and Centovalli within Switzerland. 

This is the weather we missed out on this day in the north! This view is from the north shore of Lake Zug, and usually Mount Rigi looms large on the south side!