High Trail on the South side of the Bedretto Valley

(This post published February 24, 2023)

Sunday June 26, 2016 -- There is a lovely East/West Valley just south of the Gotthard Massif called the Bedretto Valley, which extends from Airolo at the entrance of the Gotthard Tunnel, all the way to the Nufenen Pass.

We had been in the Bedretto Valley once before, in 2014, but only on a small section at the valley bottom near Airolo. We knew that there was a high trail on the south side of the valley (part of National Trail no.6: Alpine Passes Trail) which you can access via cable car to a mountain pasture called Pesciüm, from where you can walk about 4 hours toward the back of the valley. This is what we chose to do this day.

Generally the hike ends at the valley bottom road at Ronco, but we continued to All'Acqua slightly further west, total hiking time about 4 hours and 30 minutes. 

The day was partly overcast but the landscape was really very green! Still, for end of June, there was a lot of snow in the mountains. It was an easy hike as there were no steep ascents. The main drawback of the hike is that there are power lines along the entire valley, and these were always in the way of every view we had. 

Riding the large cabin cable-way from Airolo to the Pesciüm Alp saves us a climb of about 600 meters

A look back at the cable-car station at Alp Pesciüm as we start our hike westward. We started at about 9:45. 

Starting at the Pesciüm station of the cable-way, we walked almost 14 km (total walking time about 4.5 hours) along Trail no.6 and caught the bus back out of the valley from All'Acqua.

Alpine roses are just starting to flower

10:30 and it's time for our first coffee break!

It was an easy trail to walk, with views of the mountains on the north side of the Valley. 

We are always happy to run into cows on our hikes. This isn't the best vegetation for them though. It's a noxious weed and the mountain farmers don't like it because it is difficult to eradicate. 

The waterfall at Val Ruinò

VIDEO:

Crossing at the waterfall...

Water makes all our hikes much more interesting

A fantastic floor-covering of ferns in the forest

It's time for the marmots to forage

Once in a while we come across an alpine farm

There is still quite a bit of snow at this elevation (about 1600m)

Alpe di Cristallina is about the half-way point of the high trail and the junction to the Cristallina Pass to the south, which gives access to the Basodino Glacier and the Bavona Valley

Very lovely landscape

12:30 lunch time and a good view of the Gotthard Pass Road (and the power lines below!)

Continuing on after lunch time

The mountains of the Gotthard Massif on the north side of the valley are covered in low cloud.

Low clouds on the peaks to the north

Hurrying down the hill now toward All'Acqua as this alternate stretch took longer than we had anticipated, and we didn't want to miss the bus. 

Crossing the Ticino River to get to the road at All'Acqua. It's 14:30, not even five hours after the start of our hike, so pretty good walking time!

 A look upriver along the Ticino River in the direction of the Nufenen Pass. The Ticino is one of Switzerland's major rivers, and it has its source here near the Nufenen Pass

Our 14-km hike along the high trail on the south side of the Bedretto Valley

Location of the Bedretto Valley in Siwtzerland