Hike around Monte Comino to Intragna in the Centovalli

Tuesday September 27, 2022 -- During a long period of overcast and rainy weather, there was a single nice day in the Ticino only. We wanted to do a day trip with our visitors (we had purchased special day passes) but as my Mom cannot walk far, we chose a location we could access easily with a cable car, that still afforded us a lovely view into the beautiful Centovalli: Monte Comino, located directly between the two valleys called Centovalli and Val Onsernone.

After a typical Ticino meal of Risotto and Gnocchi at the mountain restaurant (these types of restaurants are called Grotti), Mum and Bianca took the cable car back to the valley bottom to return to Locarno and the scenic route home. We then took my sister on a 3-hour hike around the mountain, with some nice views both into Val Onsernone and all the way to Lago Maggiore, before descending to Intragna. Along the way in Pila we did a detour to the old mill tucked away near an idyllic pool along the Mulitt River, and tried to recreate a photo I did with Andrea's daughter back in 2015.... not quite as successfully!

(Note: A few of the photos were taken by my sister).

Heading by train into the Centovalli, this is the town of Intragna, at the junction of the two valleys Centovalli and Onsernone Valley. (Intragna has the tallest church bell tower in Canton Ticino)

Heading into Intragna, a look eastward toward Lago Maggiore and Locarno

The little Centovalli train which commutes between Locarno and Domodossola (Italy)

Cable car from Verdasio to Monte Comino. It transports only four people, so I had to ride up in the next one with three strangers!

Verdasio to Monte Comino Cable Car, in the beautiful Centovalli

"Alla Capanna" Grotto where we had a traditional lunch with local products. This was a 5-minute walk from the cable car station

Traditional local lunch of pumpkin risotto x4 and homemade gnocchi x1

It was just warm enough to eat outside on the patio at the beautiful granite tables

Mum and Bianca heading back down to Verdasio to catch the next train back to Locarno. It's a good thing we sent them down early enough, because for some reason, the train came through about 10 minutes before the scheduled time, which otherwise never happens!

Cable car heading back down into the Centovalli

Andrea, Urs and I then started (at 12:30) on our 3-hour hike across Monte Comino, a variation on a hike that Urs and I did several years ago. (This time we descended on the North side of the summit, which gave us a nice view into the Onsernone Valley). I had originally planned to take the cable car fom Costa to Intragna to save 300m descent, but we forgot to check the Internet beforehand, and the line wasn't running this year! So we descended over 1100m, a long descent and hard on the knees.

Off toward Dröi, and from there a longer route to Intragna (total three hours instead of two)

A look toward the western hills

A close-up view of the snow-covered Italian Alps

Some interesting sections on this trail

A look across the valley (Centovalli) to the South. Urs and I hiked along that mountain flank at the Easter weekend in 2015.  

First glimpse of Lago Maggiore to the east

Another interesting section of the trail

Because of the relatively warm weather in Canton Ticino, we always encounter a lot of wall lizards on our hikes in this region. 

These shrines can be found everywhere along the mountain trails in the Ticino forests.

That valley would be the Maggia Valley to the east

Now we are heading north across the top of the mountain. Another great view of Locarno and Lago Maggiore. This hillside is called Dröi, and after this, we crossed a large section of forest.

Winding our way along forested trails on the north side of Monte Comino

Through the forest, a glimpse of the beautiful Onsernone and Vergeletto Valleys. 

A zoomed view of one of the many villages perched on the hillsides of the steep Onsernone Valley. This one is called Mosogno

We had a bit of fun with these two cuties

And then we came to a spot with this fantastic view down to Loco in the Onsernone Valley, and the side valley (with the river called "Ri del Vo") where we once walked up, crossing the Garina Pass into the Maggia Valley. 

Zoomed view of the town of Loco

Some fun climbing and posing on this boulder

Time to head downhill to the next village

The smattering of houses below is called Calascio.

A great place for a sister photo

Another zoomed view of the city of Locarno, Lake Maggiore, Monte Tamaro and Monte Gambarogno

Heading down to the mountain hamlet called Calascio

The chapel is cute

After looking around a bit, we have another 90 minutes to go to get to Intragna

Lots of sunshine on this large clearing called Calascio

The chapel at Calascio

Another 40 minutes' walk through the forest and we reach the next hamlet called Cremaso. Now we are back on the Centovalli side. 

The common architecture here are these stone houses called Rustici

10 more minutes descending through the forest and we arrive at Pila. From here we took a detour to the old mill. 

From here in Pila it's actually only 30 more minutes to Intragna (straight ahead), but we are taking a detour to the river on the right, to the old mill

Down below is the old bridge over the river Mulitt. The trail would continue back to Verdasio where we started on the cable car. The trail is called "Via del Mercato", the old market trail which farmers from the Centovalli walked to carry their goods to Locarno (and we walk it for fun...)

The old mill at the River Mulitt

Trying to re-enact a photo from 2015

(This was the photo of Danae here in 2015. We didn't even get the correct side of the bridge!)

Enjoying a break at the river before continuing to Intragna

Below us is the town of Intragna, at the junction of the Centovalli and Onsernone Valley, and the end of our hike. This is the highest bell tower in Canton Ticino.

Some fancy fungi

Final steps of a long descent along the "Via del Mercato" trail, arriving at Intragna

Very tidy vineyards! The set-up offers a shady place to sit in summer

Andrea and I were in Intragna once in 1983, and I'm pretty sure I took a photo of this corner of the village at the time, the same ferns growing on the same stairs....

The church and bell-tower in Intragna

Inside the church

A look back up at the village of Intragna as we descend to the train station for our trip home. 

What our 9-km and 3-hour hike looks like on Google Satellite Maps

Train ride from Locarno along Lago Maggiore. Across the lake on the flanks of Monte Gambarogno (half-way up) is where we hiked on September 17

These are all the hikes we have done over the past 9 years in the region of the Centovalli and Onsernone Valleys, including a hike up to Monte Comino from Verdasio (not with the cable car!) and down to Intragna in 2014 (blue trail). That was a very long and grueling hike! The yellow trail is part of the "Via del Mercato". 

The region of the Centovalli in Switzerland, near the border with Italy.