Hike to the Ghost Village of Prada above Bellinzona

(Blog entry done on May 5th, one weekend later. Today we had some new snow all the way down to lake level here, so it's nice to reminisce and look at these beautiful photos from just last weekend)


Saturday April 27th and Sunday April 28, 2019 -- Unbelievable how cold the weather is, it is still snowing down to 700m, so it looks like it might be a while before we get up into the mountains.

Even our go-to place when the weather is cold in the North, a.k.a. Ticino, has had many days of rain recently, which fortunately for us stopped right in time for the weekend. So we went twice: Once on Saturday to hike at the base of Mount Ferraro (cloudy skies, great views, horrible descent) in the Capriasca near Lugano, and the second time on Sunday for a much better hike above Bellinzona. 

Highlight of this latter hike was the free access to the tower at Castello di Sasso Corbaro (usually you have to pay museum admission to access the tower, but the museum keeper was feeling generous, as official opening hours hadn't started yet) from where we got the most incomparably stunning views North into the Leventina Valley and West across the Magadino Plain, and right below us the other two magnificent castles in Bellinzona. (All three fortresses and the city wall were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the year 2000 --- these fortresses have been guarding the route between Italy and the North since the 4th century).

Another highlight at the very top of our loop hike was the ruins of a fairly large hamlet of Bellinzona, inhabited in the 14th century but fallen into total ruin since the 18th century. We had a lovely lunch in Bellinzona after getting back off the mountain, but didn't go see the other two castles this time (did that in April 2015). 

Pictures of Saturday's hike are at the bottom of this album, or at this link: HERE


SUNDAY:  We took the bus up to the Fortress Castello di Sasso Corbaro as we've hiked this stretch before. From there we continued up to the ruins and then back down to Bellinzona. 

On the bus ride up we passed the yellow church in Artore. Four years ago we hiked up there from Bellinzona before walking over to Castello di Sasso Corbaro

The start of our hike, below Castello di Sasso Corbaro

From the castle courtyard, eyeing the tower. Museum wasn't open yet, but Urs speaks Italian, so he asked. And they gave us permission to go up without paying admission

A quick visit to the tower: They gave us about 5 minutes!

Zoomed view of the fortress called Castelgrande, the one right in the heart of the old town of Bellinzona

Zoomed view of Castello di Montebello, slightly higher up the hill above the city

Spectacular weather this Sunday April 28th, this is the view across Bellinzona and the Magadino Plain in the direction of Locarno

On the tower at Castello di Sasso Corbaro

Quick walk on the ramparts before heading back down

The start of our hike at Castello di Sasso Corbaro

The trail up the mountain is a combination of cobblestone path and stone steps

Steep climb, but the path is laid out in steps (wood or stone)

In the ruined hamlet of Prada. Inhabited in the middle ages, it was abandoned in the 18th Century

So far, only the chapel has been restored. There is a consideration whether to restore the rest of the hamlet

The Chapel San Girolamo was restored in 1974. There were picnic tables here, so we had our coffee break.

There used to be an entire village up here.

Heading back down to the valley bottom. There are some gigantic chestnut trees in these forests.

Zoomed view of Castello di Sasso Corbaro where we started our hike

Back down near Bellinzona, this is Castello di Sasso Corbaro up on the hill where we started

Nice to see so much colour finally, after a long winter

Old houses in Bellinzona (Actually Ravecchia near Bellinzona)

As we approach the old town of Bellinzona, we can see Castelgrande on the hill, keeping watch over the valley

And to the North, Castello die Montebello and the beautiful city wall. This is a UNESCO Heritage Site

This is the Palazzo Civico in Bellinzona (Civil Justice Building)

Main Square in Bellinzona. There was a flea market taking place this day

Main Street Bellinzona with the tower of the Palazzo Civico

Main square Bellinzona

Last view of Castelgrande on the way to the train station

Last view of Castello di Montebello on the way to the train station.

Even though the uphill was steep, this was a pretty easy hike

In 2015 we hiked up to the Castello di Sasso Cobaro and visited the other two castles as well. This time we started at the upper castle and hiked up higher up the hill

SATURDAY:  We took the bus up a fabulous winding road to Arosio which is just below Monte Lema near Lugano. The first part of the hike we had super views all over Lugano area, but too bad it was pretty overcast. I was really pleased with the new trail we found until the descent, which was really arduous. Lots of rocks strewn on the path.

The start of our hike in Arosio in the Malcantone Region of Canton Ticino

Our view over Lugano and Lake Lugano. On the right is Monte San Salvatore, and on the other side of the lake is Italy

View up the valley to the North

View into the Capriasca Region of Canton Ticino. In the back is the ridge called Denti della Vecchia. We have walked this ridge a few years ago. 

The level trail through the forest was pretty pleasant.

Here at Monti Sigirino we started the steep descent. But first I saw something unusual on the mountain flank ahead....

There was a single tree way above the treeline. It looked so unusual, and so lonely. 

A single tree, how does it survive?

Some very large and gnarly chestnut trees in thses forests

Back down in the valley bottom, checking out the villages that form Sigirino

In the late afternoon sunshine you can see the "Denti della Vecchia" much clearer now

The church in Sigirino

Village streets

We didn't want to climb to the top of Monte Ferraro, so we walked along the flank. Which was nice until the annoying descent

We have walked many kilometers in this area.....