The Valle di Vestino is formed by the River Toscolano’s upper basin. It is under the dominion of Austria. A curious thing about it is that when the weather is bad or in the case of urgency, the Post courier and the administrative or judicial authorities of Condino reach it by passing into Italy since this is the easiest way. Valle di Vestino is reached from the lake by following the river Toscolano upstream, a very rough mule track runs alongside the river. This track starts in Gaino and descends to the river about half a kilometre past the last paper mills, with which it is linked only by way of Gaino. The route runs mainly through a narrow, winding valley and there are no nice views. There is a station of the Guardia di Finanza on the border, a very isolated place. A good track to the Casello di Finanza is the one from Gaino up to the Mezzane pass, then down to Navazzo, passing west of Mt Avertil and coming out at Col Dursina (701m) then down into Valle di Magno. At Ponte della Colla, it joins the track that goes upstream along the Toscolano. There are several villages in the valley; they are located on high ground on the sides of the surrounding mountains, not in the middle where the slopes are too steep (Magasa, Cadria, Turano, Moerna, Persone e Armo). From Persone or Magasa you can descend to Lake d’Idro in three or four hours. The valley forms a border with the municipality of Hano. To the west of Persone is Mt Stino (1434m) whose western side goes down to Lake d'Idro. From Magasa one can reach Valle d'Ampolla by way of Tombea pass (1852m) which is the highest pass in Valle di Vestino between Guardia Peak and Mt Tombea. From Tombea Pass a steep but good track goes down into Valle di Lorina and comes out on the road near Casa d'Ampolla. From Magasa one can also go up to Bus de Balì where there is a good spring, so precious in these arid hills. Puria Pass (1372m) lies to the east of Cadria (approx. 800m). It is the direct way from Valle di Vestino to Tremosine. It leads to San Michele in the valley of the same name and from there a good road takes you to Pieve di Tremosine in two hours. To the south of Puria Pass is Scarpapè Pass (1244m) that leads to Valle di Tignalga (it should not be confused with the S. Michele stream, of which it is a tributary and which many maps mistakenly call Valle di Tignalga). Valle di Vestino is directly linked with Tignale and Costa by way of the very convenient Paolone Pass (962m) which is between Valle del Droanello and the lake. Valle di Vestino is linked to Bondone on Lake d'Idro (Valli Giudicarie) by way of Col di Val to the north of Persone. The highest peaks in the valley are Mt Tombea (1965m) and the nearby Guardia Peak (1969m) on the boundary with Tremosine. These peaks command magnificent views. The valley produces excellent wheat, potatoes, wood, fruit and coal. Grazing is also a widespread activity. The inhabitants are very sharp-witted and quite industrious. It is thought that in the Valle di Droane, also called Droanelle, the left-hand confluent on the border, where S. Vigilio is marked on the maps, there was once a village whose inhabitants died of the Plague. There are traces of many different buildings and a tiny church dedicated to St Vigilius who, according to legend, preached in the area.
Beyond Gargnano is Tignale and between the two is the squat, wooded shape of Mt Denervo (1460m) which starts immediately to the north of Mt Sernifà (1246m) at Fobbia Pass and ends above the vineyards of Gargnano in that series of whitish, slipping crags whose peak is called Comer (1281m) (1). Mt Denervo divides the area in two, so the main paths the mountaineer can take from Gargnano go in two directions: towards Costa and the Valle di Vestino, or towards Muslone and the hills above Tignale. On the slope, which to the south of the crags of Comero goes gently to the lake, the paths – in better conditions in some places than in others – wind from Gargnano, Villa, Bogliaco and Villavetro up among the olive groves and reddish glacial drift to the villages of Zuino (243m), Navazzo (487m), Formaga (587m) and Sasso (534m) (2). They continue past the villages up towards the mount; some lead to Razone and Comero and others to Costa. The best road to Costa starts from Liana, goes over the saddle of the same name (744m) to the north-west of the village, then down the rough slopes that form the valleys of Magno and Costa. Costa (756m) is on the southern slope of Mt Pennino (1074m) at about 100 metres above the valley. From here, two tracks go towards Valle di Vestino. One goes down to the Casello di Finanza and meets up with the road from Gaino. The other goes up the hill to Paolone Pass (962m), where there is a barracks for the Guardia di Finanza. If we then take the road that goes down to Sega in the Valle del Droanello (a good stretch of its course marks the national border)
(1) The 1: 75000 scale map of this area is incorrect: it shows only Comaro and not Denervo the main peak.
(2) The area of villages on the high ground above Gargnano is called Mt Gargnano by its inhabitants.
we go straight to Cadria. If, on the other hand, we keep on along the southern slope and take the road that winds around the head of the Valle della Costa, in just under half an hour from Paolone Pass we will reach Fobbia Pass (915m) where a good track leads to Gardola.
We would like to point out that if you go past Paolone Pass and follow the watershed between the River Toscolano and the streams of Tignale and Tremosine, there are the Passes of Ere, Scarpapè and Puria. From Paolone, the track goes to Passo Ere and from there to the other two, crossing the western slope of Mt Mughera. Other paths branch off it and lead down to Droanello. The direct paths, which, however, go to Cadria, are only from Paolone and Puria and these paths are joined by the one to Scarpapè and Ere. The hike from Paolone to Puria Pass offers some of the most magnificent views. If we want to continue from Puria Pass to the Tremosine hills we must follow the trail that runs below the crags of Büs de Balì and leads to Lorina Pass (1438), or we must go down to S. Michele.
loc. Cluse - Turano di Valvestino
tel 0365.745007 cell 334.6686327 fax 0365.745821
e.mail info@consorzioforestalevalvestino.com
consorzio.valvestino@tiscali.it