Rivera to Torricella-Taverne in the Vedeggio Valley just North of Lugano

Sunday February 5, 2023 -- Another one of our "Let's head down south for a walk in the sun to escape the rain and cold in the North" days. At this point we are not really looking for anything special other than to walk on trails we haven't done yet, and to try to get as much sun as possible.

This time we walked low on the west side of the Valle del Vedeggio (the Vedeggio river being a 29-km long river with its source east of Val d'Isone on Monte Camoghè, and which flows into Lago di Lugano at Agno), i.e. at the foot of Monte Tamaro, from Rivera to Toricella, another ca. 12-km hike connecting with other trails which we previously ended at both those places. 

Of course the hike involved visiting lots of churches and small villages, parallel to but higher than the highway (whose noise you could hear, but you get used to it) and there is lots of industry in the valley bottom, but we had several footpaths and forested sections along the way (besides the paved roads) and enough sunshine to make it a good outing. Only drawback was, that there was a cold wind blowing, so not as balmy as the 10-14 degrees predicted. 

Note: This valley is slightly north of Lugano (called the Lugano Pre-Alps) and just south of the Monte Ceneri Pass which connects this region to the Magadino Plain, which we know so well! Despite its name, it is the lowest point between Monte Tamaro and Monte Camoghè.  Also, the villages in this valley are documented back to the 12th Century. 

(For a view of the valley from higher up the mountain flank, look at the photos of the hike we did end of April 2019, photos are HERE.)

From Bellinzona you get a good look at Monte Tamaro, and the Vedeggio Valley where we are doing this day's hike. The pass into the Vedeggio Valley is called Monteceneri.

The magnificent Castel Grande in Bellinzona, at 9:45 a.m.

Our ca. 11-km walk in the Vedeggio Valley from Rivera to Torricella-Taverne. We started at 10:20 and got to the train station in Torricella at 15:20, so again about five hours of mostly sunshine. 

The first small village along the North/South Trail after heading uphill from the Rivera train station is Soresina. Obviously the first thing to do is look into the village church

We saw a sign indicating that the old mill was in this village nearby, so we went to have a look.

Always some cats around the corners...

Heading south now, but a look behind us to the north to the village of Soresina (It is now 11 a.m.)

Our hike was a good mixture of pasture and forest paths as well as paved roads. 

VIDEO:

Springtime birds twittering in the forest

The church from the next village of Capidogno (15 minutes down the trail) was off our trail, so we didn't make the detour to go see it up close. 

A look over the roofs of Capidogno to the industrial complexes in the valley bottom

We walk up and down the alleyways of each village we pass through.

Always the impressive palm trees

Sometimes we run into these community fountains where the citizens used to gather to wash their clothes. In summer these are often filled with water. 

As we continue south, we always have a look behind us as we leave the villages. This was Capidogno, with the church far at the back. 

The next church at Sorencino was locked, so we couldn't go in

On this large open plateau which appeared to be man-made, we found picnic tables for our lunch break. There was a cold wind blowing, so we didn't stay long. Behind Urs is Cima di Medeglia, a summit where we've been twice. Photos from our last hike (March 2022) there can be viewed HERE. 

The trail along the plateau was called the Panorama Trail. On the left is Cima di Medeglia, and on the right is the Isone Valley, through which the Vedeggio River flows. The village up in the valley is Medeglia (first mentioned in documents of 1195!), where we started the hike to Cima di Medeglia a year ago.

A large section on a rocky forest trail on our way to Vira

Village church in Vira.

From Vira it was another 20 minutes to walk to the impressive church in Mezzovico, located on a small hill up ahead. 

From the church grounds in Mezzovico, another look to the north across the roofs of Mezzovico.

Chiesa di Sant'Abbondio in Mezzovico. It has quite an impressive tower. 

I really liked the interior of this church. It was large and open and relatively simple. It reminded me of a Romanesque Church, which it actually was in the 12th century, but at the end of the 16th Century it was enlarged and took Baroque form. 

The view to the altar. Urs is trying to find information about the church. 

Lots of very nice artistic details in this building

Just another 15 minutes down the road (and across a small ravine) was a similar church in Sigirino (This village was first mentioned in documents of 1335)

This is the Oratorio di San Rocco. The building dates back to 1599 but it has had many changes since then, and the current appearance is from the 19th Century. 

Most impressive in this building are the paintings on the ceiling

Nice view past the graveyard at San Rocco

An interesting fresco on an outside wall.

Continuing on through Osignano (where we ended a different hike in 2017 -- photos of that hike and this village can be found HERE, and show a view of the Vedeggio Valley from above.)

There was a small hill along the way before our final destination, and even though it was already in the shade of this mountainside, we enjoyed walking this stretch, because it was protected from the cold wind! It was only a small uphill climb.

Our first view over Torricella as we emerged from the forest. In the back are the very familiar "Denti della Vecchia" mountains, and the region across the river on the other hillside is called the Capriasca, and we have done many walks in that area as well.

One of two churches in Torricella (Chiesetta San Rocco), this one was also locked

We walked the alleyways here as well, discovering lots of small interesting details, such as this tiny renovated house tucked away between some other buildings. 

The second church in Torricella (Chiesa dei Santi Biagio e Maurizio) was open. It had a similar interior style like the one in Mezzovico.

Graveyards here are always so picturesque

Details inside the Church of Sts. Biagio and Maurizio. The building dates back to the 14th Century, although the current structure is from 1586. It is registered in the catalog of historical monuments. 

In particular, fragments of a 15th-Century fresco have come to light. It is interesting that none of the faces have yet been restored. The light through the southern windows created a unique atmosphere

A look back at the lovely church building as we head on our final stretch to the train station (another 25 minutes from here along paved roads through residential areas.)

Near the church and along the regular hiking trail is what looks like a castle. 

Our hike from Rivera to Torricella-Taverne on the Google Satellite Maps. I have marked all the churches and chapels we passed along the route! Also, the other lines are hikes he have done in previous years, in particular in the Capriasca region and the Isone Valley

Location of the Monte Ceneri and Vedeggio Valley regions in Switzerland

A Long Hike along the Mountain Flank on the South Side of Val d'Isone

Thursday May 20, 2021 -- Really, May has been quite miserable this year. This week, the only nice day was Thursday, and then only in the Ticino. Lucky for us, we could switch our days off, and arranged for an outing down South again. As was to be expected, there were many people with the same idea, but on the route we chose, which was actually quite a challenging trail in the end, we encountered only one other hiker.

We started at Isone in the Isone Valley, where we've hiked several times before, and chose a trail halfway up the mountain flank, walking back out of the valley and around into the Vedeggio Valley (the wide valley which joins Bellinzona to Lugano). A good 20 people got off the bus with us and headed the same way, but they were all going over the pass called Gola di Lago, which we've done twice before, and so we shared the trail with them only for a short time.

We had wanted to do a REAL mountain hike, and this one was definitely a challenge: Although the first half was through lush green forest (so much different than the brown forests we usually experience when we hike here in winter) with a few meadows and a scattering of homes, the second half was on a pretty rugged and difficult trail. The final steep descent to Mezzovico was long and tough as well. But we were rewarded with a few fantastic views, some lovely birch forests, and most surprisingly of all, fields and fields of narcissi, which we totally were not expecting up here.

(Another highlight for the railway fan: In three spots were were standing directly above the new Ceneri Base Tunnel, a newly-opened railway tunnel which greatly reduces the travel time between Bellinzona and Lugano!)

The start of our hike in the village of Isone toward the back of the Isone Valley. There was a lot of construction going on here, so not "idyllic". This is also a military training ground and we heard lots of booms and staccato of machine-gun fire as we walked out the valley.

First a short and easy hike through the forest until we got to the "mid-mountain" flank

Where our forest trail met the road to continue westward was the first spot where we were standing directly over the Ceneri Tunnel

So much lush greenery in the Ticino mountains. We don't often come here when it's green, so this was a treat for us

An easy level road as we head westward, with a few houses here and there along the way. (The saddle in the mountain at the back is Gola di Lago, the pass down to Tesserete, which all the other hikers were doing this day.)

Nice to see colour again!

Here we are, directly above the Ceneri Tunnel again! A photo to commemorate this!

There we are, at the red dot. We crossed right over the Ceneri Tunnel

This part of the hike was easy and very enjoyable

First bridge! Bridges are always fun.

A waterfall and another bridge!

We were pleasantly surprised when we spotted this first of several fields of narcissi

So many narcissi growing wild in the meadows, a pleasant surprise

Behind Urs, on the other side of the Isone Valley, is the village of Medeglia, one of only two communities in this valley

We passed several such waterfalls

Another lovely field of narcissi!

Another view of Medeglia

Here we crossed the trail that comes up from Medeglia, which also goes over the pass called Gola di Lago. We did that trail in December 2018

A rare view of both villages of Medeglia in the front and Isone in the back (where we started), the only two villages in the Isone Valley

This property is actually private but no one was up here yet (these are summer houses), so we had our picnic lunch on this bench.

The end of the "easy" portion of our hike was in this tiny hamlet called Busio, from where a relatively quick and easy descent would have taken us down to the exit of the valley. But we'd only walked two hours, and that wasn't enough for the day.

A fantastic property!

The next section of our hike is through the thick forested mountainside ahead. But first, another field of narcissi!

These wild narcissi are fairly small

This discovery made me very happy

The first glimpse of the exit of the Isone Valley into the Vedeggio Valley (view is to the North)

The next hour to the mountain community of Monti di Brena was across some tough terrain, mostly through the forest though, on a narrow and rocky trail

We were rewarded for our effort with this fantastic view across the city of Rivera northwards to the popular Magadino region (Locarno is around the mountain to the left).

Straight to the West, the beautiful Monte Tamaro. There is a popular traverse from the Alpe di Foppa on the very right (accessed by cable car) across the ridge to Monte Lema out of the photo to the left. It is a spectacular 5-hour hike which we did several years ago, and which I would do again. The trail is not "open" yet due to too much snow.

A sample of the small trail we followed

Some fun vegetation!

The vegetation changed from large beech forest to birch, which is always light and pretty.

After crossing the mountainside on the right, we are now looking North up the Vedeggio Valley. The Isone Valley opens to the right.

A zoomed view of the lovely mountains of the extremely popular Verzasca Valley to the North.

Our climb is pretty well finished, and the trail has gotten easier.

Here is the first and only view we got to the South: That is an arm of Lake Lugano, which curves around the Monte San Salvatore Massif. That is the airport in Agno below.

Another look at Monte Tamaro to the West

A lovely mountain alp called Monti Soldini. From here it is a 1-hour steep descent to the train station in Mezzovico. (The locals must be fast walkers, because there is no way one could get back to Busio, where we came from, in 35 minutes!! It took us over an hour in the other direction!)

We added another 15 minutes to our already 4-hour hike with a detour via Monti di Brena, another mountain hamlet.

Our detour via Monti di Brena, before the descent

Lots of stone walls...

That's one tiny house...

It took us over 50 minutes for the steep, 500-meter descent to the railway station at Mezzovico. There was nothing to photograph along the way, it was just a very rocky path through thick forest.... and hard on the knees!

A tough 4+ hour hike on the South side of the Isone Valley, starting in the village of Isone and ending at Mezzovico in the Vedeggio Valley

Another area where we have done many hikes, on both sides of the Gola di Lago Pass. On one hike we started in Isone and crossed the Gola di Lago to Tesserete on the higher and more common trail. Another time we started in Medeglia and crossed the pass. This time we walked along the mountain flank.

The photos of the 2018 crossing where we started in Medeglia can be viewed HERE

In 2017 we did a round hike starting in Isone and ending in Medeglia, over the mountain on the other side of the Isone Valley. Photos are HERE

And the first crossing of Gola di Lago, where we started in Isone, was in 2015. Those photos are HERE