Sentiero Collina Alta from Monti della Trinità to Tenero (near Locarno)

Sunday December 18, 2022 -- Our final trip to the Ticino for this year, this was probably a day we should have done a snow hike in the mountains, but we were unsure about the weather above the 700m fog level, so we went to the Ticino again, where it actually wasn't all that warm either! In fact we were going to go very far south to Lugano, but had to make a quick change in plans because the sky was very overcast there.

On the Cardada hillside near Locarno are two popular hiking trails: "Sentiero Collina Alta" and "Sentiero Collina Bassa" (High Hill Trail and Low Hill Trail) which we have walked on previous occasions, but there are always variations and sections we have not yet discovered. So we took a bus up to the fabulous "Madonna del Sasso" church (did not visit it this time as we had been there almost exactly three years ago when we hiked the Sentiero Basso -- Photos are HERE), and walked the High Trail for the third time, but via Monti della Trinità to Tenero, i.e. in the opposite direction from the last two times. 

The mountain trail through the forest still had some snow and ice on shady sections, and we lost sunshine for a while, but with some nice views of Lago Maggiore and the surrounding mountains, we still managed a decent "mountain hike" without too much difficulty. My favourite impressions are the sight of palm trees with snow-covered mountains in the background, and my most annoying part of the day was that the churches I wanted to look inside were locked... and on a Sunday!

A very nice view of Madonna del Sasso Church (Lady of the Rock) above Locarno, as we start on our hike toward Monti della Trinità. We have seen the inside of this church on a previous hike. This is the most important pilgrimage site in Canton Ticino

A lovely painted house in Monti della Trinità

"Church of the Holy Trinity" in Monti della Trinità. There was historical infomation about the church on a placard next to it, but the building was locked. It looked quite nice inside. The building is privately owned, so maybe that is why. 

From here we go uphill to join the "High Hill Trail", and Tenero is our goal. A standard 3+ hour hike for us.

Starting at the Madonna del Sasso church in Orselina, we followed the "High Hill Trail". Here it is also part of regional trail no.74: "Sentiero Verzasca", a 35-km trail from the back of the Verzasca Valley to Locarno, which we have now completed. 

It also sometimes snows down to lake level here in Locarno, and there was still snow and ice on the "High Trail"

Everywhere the juxtaposition of palm trees and snow-covered peaks

It was a very nice forest trail to walk, and a large section here was an educational trail, with loads of information on the variety of trees and bushes that flourish here in the forests. 

According to Urs, these palms here are actually non-native plants originating in China and considered weeds in the forests here. 

More bridges, more ice

The "Sentiero Collina Alta" is also part of Trail no.74: "Sentiero Verzasca"

There was a house here advertised as a rentable vacation home. We checked out the back patio and the view. Not bad! (currently no one was in it). 

Once in a while we got a view of the east end of Lago Maggiore

And this is a view of Locarno, the Maggia Delta and the southern part of Lago Maggiore. Unfortunately, this is where we lost some sunshine. 

Every once in a while we come across a stone building in the forest. This one used to be a church built for devotional purposes in the 17th Century on the daily route from Locarno into the Verzasca Valley.  It is called the "Capella Rotta", ("Broken Chapel"), and legend has it, it was never completed because of the Plague. 

The fresco inside the "Broken Chapel" is from 1630

This anno 1750 "Roman Bridge" is called "El Pont del Sipp", or "Sipp's Bridge". Sipp was the name of a farmer who lived nearby. Before the bridge was build, the locals spanned the ravine with three large chestnut trees laden with stone plates. 

Another look at the entire hillside above Locarno. This hillside usually gets lots of sunshine and there are lots of nice houses in this desirable location!

And this view is across the Magadino Plain to the East, with the beautiful snow-covered mountains. We are now in a community called Costa and starting our descent to Tenero in the valley bottom. 

This is the entrance to the fascinating Verzasca Valley. The mountain is the fabulous Pizzo Vogorno, towering above the lake of the same name (with the famous James Bond Dam)

Heading through Costa on our way down the mountain

A look back at Costa as we head down the mountain

Almost the entire way down the mountain was a long staircase. In the shady sections we had to be careful of ice. 

In this village of Mondacce we join the "Sentiero Collina Bassa" down to Tenero, a section we have done before, in the other direction. There was a cute church here as well, also locked, but we couldn't figure out why. 

Another stunning sight of palm trees and snow. I'm not sure, but I think the mountain is called Camoghe

Below us is the Magadino Plain and Tenero, end of our hike. 

I totally remembered once having passed through this archway, and looked back at my older hike photos. Sure enough, it was from the hike from Tenero on the "Low Hill Road" from 2019! (Those photos HERE)

The church in Tenero. It has a rather modern interior. 

In 2019 we did the "Low Hill Trail" starting in Tenero and walking all the way back down to Locarno. This time we started at the church, walked up the hill and along the "High Hill Trail" back down to Tenero. 

A popular and sun-exposed region for us, that's why we do a lot of hiking here, mainly in winter and early spring!

Also of interest might be the photos of our little loop tour over the Verzasca Dam (in orange) which we did in February 2018, also starting and ending in Tenero, ad passing through Costa as well. PHOTOS HERE