In late autumn, when the chilly northern wind begins to blow, and tiny ice crystals paint the air in gloomy white, in Southern Ticino the sky is still often blue, and the small prealpine valleys, like the misterious Val Agario, are the perfect regions for the last tours of the year.
Arosio - Mugena - Alpe di Coransù - Alpe Agario - Alpe Nisciora - Alpe Gem - La Bassa - Alpe di Torricella - Arosio
Region: Malcantone
Altitude: 1495 m
Ascent: 732 m
Length: 17 km
Time: 2.5 - 4 hours
Unrideable time: 5 - 10 minutes
Season: April - November
Skills: 2
Strength: 3
GPS Data: download
Map: show
The tour starts in Arosio, where you have to take the road that leads to Mugena. After you pass a bridge, look for a gravel road on the right. This road climbs through a chestnut wood and a beechwood, then after reaching Alpe di Coransù it will get steeper. Above the Alpe there will only be some birches, the last witnesses of the rural history of that mountain.
Suddenly the road stops, but you can proceed on a bumpy trail. You'll have to walk for a few sections, but after a few hairpin turns you will reach the lonesomme stone house of Alpe Agario.
On your right you will see the single-track that ventures into Val Agario. This trail is extraordinary, and it's made of a long series of turns and bumps. It will just take a short walk to reach Alpe Nisciora and Alpe Gem.
The long diagonal trail ends in La Bassa after 2 steep climbs. From there you can look at all the itinerary you made so far. The get into the descent following the sign that read Arosio.
The trail soon turns into a gravel rod that heads south. You'll start meeting some meadows and barns lost in the woods, then you'll start to see more and you'll get back to Arosio.