Easy Walk down the Blenio Valley from Camperio to Acquarossa

Saturday October 17, 2026 -- Today it was really going to rain in the north (after a lovely first half of the day), so we once again traveled to Canton Ticino south of the Alps, where we were assured of mild sunny weather all day.

Canton Ticino is a large canton with more than just Locarno and Lugano to discover, and there are many beautiful side valleys that are rarely visited by tourists. One such valley is the Blenio Valley (off the Leventina Valley at Biasca) where we have been often, as there are many interesting hikes to do at lower elevations, including several historical themed trails (which we have mostly covered to date).

Having already walked several times along the east side of the valley from Olivone down-valley, and one section on the west side starting in Acquarossa, we had yet to cover some ground on the west side between Olivone and Acquarossa, which was the plan for this day. To connect to walks we have done in the Santa Maria Valley (the valley from Olivone to the Lucomagno Pass), we started in Camperio where we had ended a hike in June 2018, having walked down from the Lucomagno Pass to there. 

Visibility wasn't ideal as the air was kind of hazy, but temperatures were mild, and the hills are starting to colour. Just like the trip to the Onsernone Valley three days earlier, we waded through loads of fallen chestnut hikes. Unlike that hike, the churches we passed were all locked. The three-hour hike was easy and we made it to our goal as planned with a few minutes to spare, and were glad we had chosen this outing as it was very cold and rainy as we reached home at about 5 p.m.

PART I: Trip into the Blenio Valley

Having left home again at 8:10 (not too early!) it was a 2-hour trip to Biasca via Bellinzona, and then a 50-minute bus ride up the Blenio Valley to Olivone, and then continuing up the Valle Santa Maria toward the Lukmanier Pass, where we got out in Camperio at 11 a.m. This view is from the Blenio Valley back toward the junction with the Leventina Valley at Biasca. 

As the bus heads up the Blenio Valley, we look across to the west side to the town of Porto Valentino, which we are walking through later on the way back out of the valley. 

Higher up on the mountainside, the trees are starting to change colour now. 

The bus passes through the town of Dangio, which we also saw from the other side of the valley during our hike. 

Down below is the town of Olivone, at the very back of the Blenio Valley. From here, a side valley called the Valle Santa Maria leads up to the Lukmanier Pass (Passo di Lucomagno) where the bus is now headed, along a winding road. 

Up above us and above the tree-line are the peaks which separate the Valle Santa Maria from the Leventina Valley. As the day was so beautiful, we could have continued on to the pass, and hiked up there, but it was too late in the day to start on a longer hike, which would have been four hours or so. 

We stayed with our original plan to get off the bus here in Camperio—where we had once ended a hike down this valley from the Lukmanier Pass in June 2018—and walk for about 12 kilometers to Acquarossa in the Blenio Valley. 

PART II: Three-hour hike from Camperio (Olivone) to Acquarossa

The first 20 minutes of our hike was out of the Santa Maria Valley through the forest above the road. On this stretch we had shadow, but it went quickly, and we were soon in the sunshine. We started here at 11:05. 

Starting t 11:05 at Camperio, we reached Acquarossa by 3:20 p.m., less than 10 minutes early for the 15:28 bus back to Biasca, and ultimately just over 2 hours of travel time to get home (where it was cold and raining!). It was an approx. 12-km hike at about 3 hours!

It's that time of year where we see a lot of mushrooms in the forest, including lots of poisonous Fly Amanitas!

About 20 minutes after starting our hike, we emerge into the sunshine with the first views of Olivone below. 

All around, the forests are starting to get some colour. 

It was so lovely to see the sheep out in the pastures. And the start of autumn colouring. 

More lovely views down to Olivone at the back of the Blenio Valley. 

And across the valley we can see the communities where we had previously walked down the valley. At that time there were some nice chapels to visit, some of which you had to pick up a key from a local person and open the chapel yourself. (See these photos from our March 2019 hike).

There were a few stretches on paved roads, but this is never a problem when there is little traffic. 

Unfortunately there was a lot of haze this day, so the views down the valley were not as good as we had hoped. 

As it was now just before noon, we kept an eye out for a bench for our picnic lunch, and we spied one just above the three houses up ahead. 

Perfect spot for our picnic lunch break!

After a 20-minute break, we were on our way again. The next stop of note is Largario, 50 minutes from here. The fact that an image of a church has been added next to the name of the village made us excited to possibly see another historical monument. (There are many very old churches in this valley). 

Enjoying the lovely landscapes on this easy early afternoon walk. 

More sheep out grazing. 

On the mountains to the east, a glacier appears. This is the glacier below the Adula Rheinwaldhorn, where the waters for the Hinterrhein have their source (on the opposite side of the peaks). 

Now we have come quite far down the valley, and now coming into view is another valley further beyond the town of Olivone. That valley is called Val Camadra, a valley we were planning to walk down this summer, but it never worked out. (The bus runs up there basically only in July and August). There is a community in that valley called Campo, where we also once walked down to from the Lukmanier Pass, photos HERE. 

Way up high below the glacier we can just see a building, which is a Swiss Alpine Hostel called Capanna Adula. It has long been our dream to hike up there, but it requires a two-day hike with five hours of walking each day. 

Close-up view of the glacier below the Adula Rheinwaldhorn. 

We then passed through more chestnut forests, with some very large trees!

And all the chestnuts seem to have dropped by now! It was like walking on marbles. I collected a few to try to roast at home, but chances are, they will already have worms. 

And now at 1:15 p.m. we have reached the outskirts of the village of Largario, and we see the bell tower of the old church which we would love to visit. But the plastic sheet covering the roof probably means there are restorations going on, which will mean no access. 

Urs waiting for me as I take a detour to see if I can get a better look at the church building from above. 

I couldn't see the church from here, but did get a nice look to the town of Dangio which we passed through with the bus earlier that day (and walked through on our March 2019 hike). The arched highway bridge is pretty impressive! And the large building behind the river is the former Cima Norma chocolate factory (now converted into apartments). 

Sure enough, the church (Chiesa dei Santi Pietro e Paolo) was locked and a local person told us that due to possible dangers during the renovation process, the building is not open for viewing. But by the looks of the facade here, it will be a very long time until the building can be fixed up.
From the Internet, information about the church: "Founded in 1283, it was demolished in 1763 and rebuilt with an elliptical floor plan and a semicircular choir between 1765 and 1767, based on a design by Giuseppe Stella. Inside, Rococo-style stucco work adorns the choir and the two side chapels. This 18th-century decoration was retouched and completed in 1926."

It's turning out to be a warm day! It was a maximum of 15 degrees. 

Another view of the town of Dangio across the valley to the east, and the peaks that separate this valley from the Rheinwald Valley, i.e. where the Hinterrhein River makes its way eastward. 

This was one of those old stone Roman bridges, but we didn't see much of the arch, as it was quite overgrown. This part of the trail runs parallel to and below the vehicle road into the town of Porto Valentino. 

This lovely building, which looks like a church, was locked. 

Down below is a small village called Grumo, which we also passed through on the March 2019 hike down the valley. Grumo is the birthplace of birthplace of Maestro Martino, the most famous cook of the Renaissance Era.

Now we have entered the town of Porto Valentino. Our trail continues down the road on the left (past that pink house with a bell tower!). We didn't make a detour to the town's church, as we had been here once before on a side-visit at the end of our February 2024 hike down the the valley. 

Lovely roses!

Heading down the road past the pink house!

The day had gotten warm, and I changed into my shorts!

A look up at the parish church in Porto Valentino, which we had a good look at at the end of our February 2024 hike. At that time, we caught a bus out of the valley from here, but I would have really liked to continue the walk down the valley to Acquarossa, which is what we were doing this day. Back then, the valley was already getting into shadow, so it would not have been really comfortable to keep walking.  

We are walking along the "Aquarossa Trail", and the direction sign is just applied above a door there!

There are so many lovely dry-stone walls in this region, and particularly nice is when there is an alleyway between the walls!

We now cross this large plain on the valley bottom, on the final stretch to Aquarossa. This is the stretch I had wanted to walk in February 2024 when we had made a detour to visit Ponto Valentino, but at the time the valley bottom was already starting to be in shadow (photo HERE) so we opted to take the bus instead. 

More alleys between dry-stone walls. 

A look back to the church in Ponto Valentino, as we continue down the valley. 

What a beautiful fungus!

A pleasant walk.

A herd of heifers came running up from the bottom part of the pasture... we figured they wanted to greet us!

VIDEO:

The heifers seemed to race over to meet us...

but maybe they just wanted a drink of water.

View up the valley

Across the valley here is a village called Lottigna. We also walked through that village on our March 27, 2019 hike. It is the location of the Blenio Museum, also called the "Palazzo del Pretorio", built in the early 16th Century and decorated with many coats of arms as frescoes on the facade. (Photo HERE). 

What a gorgeous day in the always beautiful Blenio Valley. 

And then we passed a few more lovely cows, with the "traditional" photo of Urs being observed carefully as he walks past!

Not far from our trail in the community of Castro is the San Giorgio Church, which I would have liked to detour to, but we really wanted to make the 15:28 bus out of the valley, otherwise we'd have to wait another hour for the next bus, and the sun was disappearing behind the mountain soon. The original church, already documented in 1205, was demolished and rebuilt in 1867–68. 

Our trail goes through the neighbouring village of Prugiasco. There is another church here, part of the historical-themed trail which we haven't walked yet. But we also didn't have the time to detour there. 

After being out on the trail for just over four hours, we got to the Acquarossa bus stop at 3:20 p.m., with 8 minutes to spare for the bus to Biasca. (Back when the Cima Norma chocolate factory was still in operation, there used to be a 14-km railway line up this valley, from Biasca to here. Opened in 1911, the operation of this line was suspended in 1973.)  

At the Acquarossa bus station are many signs for all kinds of hikes that can be done up and down the valley. We came from Camperio, which was a 3-hour walk in this direction, as it was all downhill. 

The bus to Biasca is right on time at 15:28, for the 23-minute trip back to Biasca, and for the ultimately 2¼-hour trip back home.  

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What our hike looks like on Google Satellite Maps 

View back up the Blenio Valley as our bus reaches the outskirts of the city of Biasca. By the time we got back home north of the Gotthard Tunnel, it was cold and raining there, so I was glad I had put my pants back on in the train.! 

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All the hikes we have done in the Blenio Valley and Malvaglia side valley. 

Location of the Blenio Valley within Switzerland.