Giro della Valle del Salto: Three-Day Trip to Canton Ticino, DAY 1

(Post done on December 17, 2021)

First Day of Three-Day trip to Ticino: Valle del Salto, Maggia

Sunday May 15, 2016 – We had a totally different plan for our first day in the Italian part of Switzerland, but we hadn’t anticipated the masses of people traveling down from the Northern part of Switzerland on Sunday. The train, which started in Zurich, was so full by the time it reached Zug (which is the next stop!) that there was standing room only in First Class as well. So we switched trains, but that one kept getting delayed because too many people were trying to load up their bikes (room for 15 bikes, but they managed to squeeze in 40!) 

The bus in Locarno we had wanted to take didn’t wait, so we chose a different valley instead (Valle Maggia), and did a neat little 3.5 hour round tour into a side valley (Valle del Salto), which was wonderfully quiet and away from the crowds (except the bus to get there, that was bad). Because of the delay, we started only at 11:45, quite late for us. 

The Valle del Salto is made up mostly of heavily forested steep slopes with the odd pasture and cluster of renovated Rustici homes, reinforcing how beautiful the Ticino wilderness is, and how difficult life must have been for farmers of yore. Kilometers of retaining walls, well-laid stone steps, and small stone shelters hanging on the steep slopes attest to years of backbreaking work. The hike to the back of the valley consisted of an hour of steady uphill, but it was a nice trail through forests with massive chestnut trees and wild streams cutting clefts into the steep slopes. 

The only bad part was having to get back into the overcrowded bus to get back out of the Maggia Valley!

Description of the "Giro della Valle del Salto" official themed trail, which we discovered last minute as a Plan B because we missed the bus to our original destination. The description starts on the North side of the Valle del Salto. We did the tour in the opposite direction. 

20 minutes to the chapel on the hill which overlooks the whole valley, and just over 3 hours to do the round tour back to opposite the chapel, so about 3.5 hours to get back here to the bus stop

Walking through the village of Maggia (for which the valley is named) heading toward the trail

Heading uphill, the trail first passes through some terraced vineyards

In the Ticino, many of the trails are laid out with stone steps like these, which makes the ascent quick and easy. 

After a 20-minute hike we reach the chapel of Santa Maria della Pioda, from where you get a fabulous view over the Maggia Valley. 

The chapel was built in the late middle ages and has frescoes dating from the 15th and 17th Centuries. 

A view down the Maggia Valley from the Pioda Chapel

From the chapel we head uphill on the South side of the Salto River. It's a steady uphill for one hour, then another 20 minutes to the back of the valley where we cross the river and head back on the other side. 

Steady uphill for an hour through thick shady chestnut forests

Passing through an open clearing called a Monti, typical of this area. These vacation homes are accessible only on foot as we are doing.

Toward the back of the Salto Valley are the mountains with access to the neighbouring Verzasca Valley. That would be another 6 hours to cross!

Some interesting passages

Another set of homes below the trail, and high above the steep gorge. 

Crossing over a "side stream"

Now we're approaching the point at which we can cross the river. This is a typical emerald pool which you find so often in this region: Clear, fresh, cold water that you can swim in, if you can access it. 

Family fun! There was a bridge here to cross the river to the North side. 

Now we are heading back down to Maggia along the North side of the gorge. 

Magnificent giant chestnut trees

A look south across the gorge to the smattering of houses we passed along the trail on the way up. 

Another look back up the valley to the mountains which separate the Maggia Valley from the Verzasca Valley. In 1989 I did a hike (on the Verzasca side) that included a passage over the ridge in the center. One day I want to repeat that hike... 

This is the votive chapel in Braiaa (mentioned in the description of the tour) with 19th-Century paintings by a local artist. 

A look down at the Pioda Chapel from the other side of the gorge. 

And here we are above the Salto Waterfalls, crossing the bridge and returning to the Pioda Chapel, before descending back down to Maggia. 

This is the round tour we did as a Plan B, a good choice. We really enjoyed the tour, which is about 3.5 hours. Unfortunately, the bus to take us back out of the Maggia Valley (20 minutes) was so packed full, and in the heat of the day, rather uncomfortable. 

What the tour (9 km, 3.5 hours) looks like on Google Satellite Maps.

AS A SIDE NOTE:

I had purchased a new (used) set of hiking boots online, which I was able to pick up nearby. This meant fighting our way out of the jam-packed bus at Ponte Brolla just at the exit of the Maggia Valley (the rest of the people in the bus continued on to Locarno train station) and then walking another 3.5 kilometers (partly along the Melezza River) to Verscio, and taking the train from there. We were able to do this additional "walk" because we were staying in a hotel nearby, and therefore had plenty of daylight hours left! (It was 4:30 p.m. when we started on our second, 1-hour walk)

A second walk, this time from Ponte Brolla to Verscio, to pick up some boots I had purchased from a private seller online. 

In our hotel (Rotonda) in Gordola, trying on my  new shoes, which had to "be carried" for two more day hikes on our three days in Ticino. As nice as they were, they weren't really cut out for hiking after all.  

Our Hotel for the first night, photo taken in the morning on our way to our Day2 Hike of the 3-day trip to Ticino

NOTE: Photos of DAY 2 and DAY 3 of this lovely 3-day trip can be viewed HERE and HERE