Hike to Mountain Lakes above San Bernardino in the Mesolcina Valley

Day 1 of 2-day trip to Rheinwald

Saturday August 9, 2025 -- In this next period of heat wave, but sunny weather, we figured we would be more comfortable in the mountains, so planned a two-day trip to do two hikes in the region of the San Bernardino Pass / Rheinwald Valley / Vals Valley in Canton Graubünden. (These are hikes we had on our list of hikes we want to do, but travel time is too long for day trips). We were lucky to find a room in a traditional house at the back of the Rheinwald Valley (this is near the source of the Hinterrhein River) for one night, a convenient location to start early on Sunday morning to walk over the Valserberg Pass, and also easily reachable from San Bernardino where we were ending Saturday's hike.

Heading out early (6 a.m.) on Saturday, we got to the San Bernardino Pass at the back of the Mesolcina Valley at about 10 a.m. after a "short" train ride to Bellinzona, and two long bus rides up the valley! What was our surprise to find all kinds of activity up at the pass, which turned out to be an alpine half-marathon in progress! Also somewhat frustrating was that the course of the run was exactly along the trail we were hiking, and we had to constantly hop off the trail to let the runners pass, as the first of hundreds of runners were just starting to reach the pass. We found this very tiring. 

It seemed that the first half of our five-hour hike took much longer than planned to walk, and this left us with less time to really enjoy the rest of the hike, which was to pass some lakes at the upper alpine pastures of Confin, and then descend via the Passit Pass. We had to walk quickly, as we needed to catch the 17:22 bus to our accommodation in Hinterrhein. We made it just in time and were very happy with the accommodation, a shower, and a meal in a small local establishment. In bed by 8 p.m. for a very quiet night in a remote village at the back end of a beautiful valley!

It takes only 90 minutes by train to Bellinzona (we left home at 6 a.m.), but then it's a long bus ride up the Mesolcina Valley! This lovely town along the Moesa River is called Roveredo, and the bus makes a detour across the river into the village. 

The bus stops for a few minutes at the former railway station in Mesocco (8:50 a.m.). (There used to be a railway line along this valley between Bellinzona and Mesocco, but it was discontinued in 2013). Notice that it's August at 9 a.m. and very little sunshine here, as the mountains are so very steep. 

As the bus winds up the switchbacks toward the town of San Bernardino, we get this fantastic view down the Mesolcina Valley (near Pian San Giacomo). Back in June of 2022, we did a walk down this valley, from the town of San Bernardino ending in the village of Mesocco, and passing under this bridge along that trail on the right. (Those photos are HERE). 

Having arrived at the town of San Bernardino at about 9:25 (and it was already hot here!), we had just 10 minutes before the small van bus headed up toward the San Bernardino Pass, where we were starting on our hike. We still needed some joghurts for our breakfast the next day, so I hurried across the river to the grocery store on the left, before returning to the bus stop behind that building on the right, which is also where we ended our hike this day. 

The small van bus winds its way up the San Bernardino Pass road. We were surprised that a large group of Italian-speaking people also boarded this bus, as we were not expecting a lot of action up here. (Side note: Italians speak VERY loudly and animatedly, and even the bus driver joined in the conversation, which he is not supposed to do! It was a tough 20-minute ride for me, being very noise-sensitive!)

Up at the San Bernardino Pass at 9:50, and it was warm here also! (We had hoped to escape the heat wave in the mountains). In the back is the small bus we rode to get up here. Also, lots of people here, so we knew there must be some event going on... but at this point we didn't know what. 

A look eastward from the Ospizio building at the San Bernardino Pass. 

A quick photo of the "Laghetto Moesola" before heading out along the hiking trail on the east side of the lake (on the left). 

Our goal is to hike up to the Passit Pass before descending to the town of San Bernardino to the south. It should take 3¼ hours to reach the pass, and from there another 90 minutes to finish the descent. (We are planning to take the 5:20 p.m. bus via the tunnel road to our overnight in Hinterrhein, so that gives us over 7 hours to do this five-hour hike).  

Starting on our hike along the lake, we saw several red-and-white ribbons along the trail, and were hoping with all our might that the trail wasn't closed!

A view behind us to the "Ospizio" (mountain restaurant) at the San Bernardino Pass. 

Then suddenly we saw a runner coming toward us on the hiking trail, and then we knew that there was some kind of racing competition going on this day. A quick Internet search revealed that indeed, a very popular alpine half-marathon race called the Sanbe Trail was taking place this day, a yearly event  here!!!!!

I soon had to change out of my leggings, as it was not at all cold up here!

One after another of the runners started to pass us now, and we had to always make sure to give them the right of way, which was very tiring. At the back, we can see approximately the trail we will be walking after first heading to the foot of that mountain on the right (Piz de Mucia). 

Still a few flowers up here. 

We had to cross the pass road at the south end of the lake, and from here got a glimpse of one of the "Grand Tour of Switzerland" red frames which I like to photograph. It would have been too long of a detour to get to this one, though. 

We usually try to find hiking trails where we expect to NOT encounter other hikers, but it became more and more obvious that we were not going to be able to walk this trail comfortably!

Hundreds of runners passing us now, and we had to always find places to hop out of the way so as not to impede them in their race. This was very tiring. (According to the Internet information, this race would have started at 9 a.m., and we are impressed that the runners are already near the pass now at about 10:40, having had to cover 10 kilometers and an altitude of 700 meters to get to this point near the pass!... and in this heat....)

A quick detour off the trail for a photo with the San Bernardino Pass road, and looking southwards down the Mesolcina Valley. 

The trail makes a detour around this upper plateau to the base of Piz de Mucia, (where one might have expected a lake, but there wasn't one), and here on this rock we rested for at least 20 minutes, watching the final runners pass us. In the back on this photo is a group of three people wearing unusual costumes..... 

.....Urs calls this the "Sweep-up Crew", which follows the runners to make sure that everyone has made it past here OK. Thus the brooms that they are carrying, hahaha!

At 11:50 we are on the way again.

From this vantage point we get a really nice look at the San Bernardino Pass road, and you can just make out the lake at the summit of the pass as well. (Side note: In the circle at the back is the Valserberg Pass, which we are going to be crossing the next day). 

After 45 minutes along a high trail around an extension of the mountain (and passing, unfortunately, the loud group of Italians which were on the bus with us... what are the chances of that, on a trail where we really expected no one else, and three hours after we started?) we get a look at the next section of our hike, namely having to climb up to that next plateau at the arrow on the upper right!

Down below us now we can see the town of San Bernardino, where we are ending our hike. We could have descended right here, but we wanted to hike up to the lakes near the Passit Pass, that was the point of this hike! (Although at this point, having only slept two hours the night before, I was very tired). 

We sat here on this look-out point for a while, waiting for the group of Italians to pass us, so that we would not have to hear their loud chatter. As it turns out, there is a gondola cable-car below, which we did not realize was in operation, and the group headed down that way. 

We, on the other hand, started on the toughest stretch now, a 200-meter climb. Luckily, we had a nice breeze for most of this five-hour hike, otherwise it would have been too hot, even here in the mountains. (Max. elevation was only 2200 meters, so actually not that high). 

There were very few places with shade to rest for a bit, so I took advantage of a tiny bit of shade near that weird building, to rest and take off my shoes to air my feet! It took us about 40 minutes to climb the hillside, but from here on it it's pretty level. Also, on the way up Urs discovered a fresh-water source coming right out of the ground... there is no better nor colder water than this to fill our water bottles with!

First of several of the lakes up here which was really the goal of this hike! This high plateau is called "Alp de Confin". ("Confin" actually means "Border", as the border with Italy is across the top of those mountains on the other side of the Mesolcina Valley). 

Also some "dried-out" lakes, but covered with plenty of pretty cotton-grass!

This water-course looks like a lake, but is actually a wider "river" heading from one of the lakes over the edge there. 

An unusual-looking stream heading down the mountain from here!

This is the largest of the Confin Lakes. As a group, the lakes are called "Laghi di Confin", i.e. "Lakes of Confin". 

Trying to take a self-timed photo where both of us are on the photo together!

We had gotten to these lakes at about 3 p.m., and knew it would take us about another two hours to get back down to San Bernardino, so we couldn't really stay and enjoy the landscape like we would have liked to. (There were only a handful of other people up here). 

On this trail we now head down toward the Passit Pass, a 30-minute walk from the lakes.

You can barely see them, but there are two more lakes below at the Passit Pass. 

3:45 p.m. at the Passit Pass! From here, there are two trails down to San Bernardino, both of which take an hour and 20 minutes. This leaves us very little extra time to catch the 17:22 bus. 

View of the lakes from the Passit Pass. If you continue here toward the west, you can descend into the beautiful Calanca Valley. 

The last section of our five-hour hike is a 90-minute walk down the mountain. This view is to Pian San Giacomo. We are headed to the left. 

Most of our descent was through the forest. We were glad of the shade, but the trail was not easy to walk. Lots of rocks and roots to navigate!

At just one point on the descent we got a look a the reservoir lake "Lago d'Isola". 

It's pretty here in the forest. 

At 17:05 we were near the base station of the gondola cable-car, and were happy once again to fill up with fresh water!

Pretty, but not sure what this building is....

This beautiful peak that towers north of the town of San Bernardino is called Piz Uccello. (Bird's Peak)

At 17:18 we were at the parking lot.... the bus leaves at 17:22! This bus travels through the San Bernardino tunnel, not over the pass. It only takes 9 minutes to get to the village of Hinterrhein, where we have booked an apartment for the night! The next bus is two hours later, and even though 7:30 p.m. would still have been a good time to get to our accommodation, it would have been a bit late for dinner, as we had reserved ahead of time. 

What our hike looks like on Google Satellite Maps. We started at about 10 a.m. at the San Bernardino Pass, and got back to the bus stop in San Bernardino Villagio at about 5:20 p.m.

We have done a couple of hikes around San Bernardino, including a winter walk in 2017 (green) and walking down the valley to Mesocco in 2022 (orange). What we still need to do one day is to walk over the pass itself, starting in San Bernardino and ending in Hinterrhein. 

The bus arrives in the village of Hinterrhein. 

Walking down main street in Hinterrhein!

All the houses in Hinterrhein have a name. The house where we were able to use an entire apartment is called "Chilchahuus", i.e. "Church House". (The church is right next door). 

Looking out from our bedroom window onto the main square. The lady who rented us the apartment here also rents out the one with the pretty flowers on the balcony, but it is booked for the whole month. At the arrow above is the pass we crossed the next day. 

A walk around the apartment (with very low ceilings) which we could have used in its entirety, although we only ued the kitchen table for breakfast, and the bedroom and closed-in balcony!

Our host told us that the "restaurant" only opens at 6:00 p.m., so we had time for a shower and to enjoy the little closed-in balcony!

After a shower, we headed two houses down the road to the house called Bachhuus, where the family cooks local specialties for dinner (you have to reserve ahead of time). If no one reserves by 2 p.m., they don't cook!

Look what is hanging around outside the little "home restaurant"!!!

I love how the chickens walk around free in these villages here! We have been in this valley three times now, the last two times in the next village over called Nufenen, and there the chickens were all over the place. 

The "Restaurant" was a large room with four tables, all of which were set. We had made reservations two days earlier, but there were 14 people who ended up eating here! Urs had tomato cream soup and a weird dessert, and I had a fabulous dish of a type of Spätzli with Mangold and onions. It was called "Pizokels da cualm" and tasted fabulous! In fact, I had asked about it when I made the reservation, and they made it up especially for me!  

This photo is from their website https://bachhuus.ch/speisekarte/, and this front table is the one where they had us seated at! The room was like someone's living room, with four tables!

At 8 p.m. we were back at our apartment, (off the photo to the right of the town fountain) and went straight to bed. The house's thick walls keeps the house cool, so it was very comfortable (almost a bit cold) in the house! We had a good night's sleep, very quiet. 

Location of San Bernardino Pass within Switzerland.