Summary
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Trail in numbers
- Distance: 27 km
- Total climb: 360 m
- High point: 2234 m
- Ridable: 100%
- Duration: 3-4 h
Highlights
- Lakes Cancano. Lakes Cancano sit at 1900 meters a.s.l. in the middle of Valdidentro valley, Stelvio National Park, Italy. Their turquoise waters contrast sharply with the green or yellow larch forests and the sharp grey of the jagged mountains towering all around it. These lakes offer amazing photo opportunities, as well as a couple of solid mountain huts to take a filling lunch break (Rifugio Fraele and Rifugio San Giacomo)
- Doss Radond. This is the tallest point of the trail, at 2234 meters above sea level. Here the vegetation is coarse and consists of typical mountain meadows, the perfect setting for the horseback riding tours that can be booked in the small ranch in its vicinity.
- Piz Umbrail and Piz Murtarol are the tallest peaks that can be admired during the ride. They both reach above 3000 meters a.s.l., and only in the warmest summer months you can see their tops deprived of their usual snow caps.
Useful info
- When to go: June to October.
- Trail options: the trail reported here exploits one of the easiest ways of accessing Val Mora from Italy, providing the smoothest tracks and the smallest climb. Other more intrepid routes are the northern access from Picco del Gallo and the most iconic, adrenaline-filled access from Piz Umbrail (which requires shouldering your bike for a good 300 meters of climb).
- Food and Water: around Lakes Cancano there are some water fountains and at least two huts/restaurants (Rifugio Fraele and Rifugio San Giacomo) that can provide water. Then you are in the wild, but you will always be riding along a river (bring water filters though).
- Recommended gears&bike: this is a track that mostly develops along a doubletrack road, so you can bring your hardtail without problems. If you have a full suspension bike you will have more fun in the rather short single track section connecting Val Mora with Cancano.
- Starting point: San Giacomo di Fraele, Cancano Lakes, Valdidentro. This is a rather remote place, you will be able to access it only with your own car with a 1 – 1.30 h drive from Bormio and Livigno, both at 3.30h from Milan. Otherwise, if you are staying in Livigno and feel like adding up some kilometers to your ride, you can directly leave by bike from Livigno, cross the Alpisella pass, and reach Cancano. On the way back you can return via the Val Trela pass, which by the way offers one of the most amazing single track of the Alps.
Table of contents:
Photostory
We are in Livigno for a mountain biking weekend, and our second day begins with an early (too early!) morning call and a 1,30h drive to take us from Livigno to the Cancano Lakes. If you look at the map it looks unbelievable, as the two locations are at rock-throwing distance! The thing is that the only way to connect them is through a couple of passes (Val Trela and Val Alpisella) which are beautiful and fully doable by bike, if not for the longer time (and energy) it would have taken us.
The lakes lie in the Valdidentro valley, which is already part of the Stelvio National Park, which is the biggest national park in Italy, a wild reserve bordering Switzerland and two Italian regions (Lombardia and Trentino), featuring mountains as tall as 3900 meters and ancient glaciers. The view is breathtaking already from the car park.
Our plan today is to start from the lakes (1900 meters) and cross the border into Switzerland, entering the Swiss Val Mora and then reaching the tallest point of the valley at 2300 meters.
After a few minutes we are in Switzerland and the trail takes us through a narrow valley crossed by a tranquil river.
The trail is not too insidious and in a short time we enter Val Mora.
Val Mora is amazing. It is wide, spacious and long – but it is surrounded by magnificent mountains towering above 3000 meters, such as the famous Piz Umbrail (3011 meters). The views are postcard-like and it feels like being in another continent (this is what I imagine Canada to look like).
The first part of the valley is very green and lush, and covered with trees. As we climb, the vegetation gets less dense and trees start to disappear, and the panorama changes into a purely Alpine landscape.
Finally we get to the tallest point, Doss Redond (2340 meters).
Tired but happy, we take a few moments to relax and recover, then we hit the trail backwards and return at our car in Italy close to the Cancano lakes. We pack and head back to the city, physically tired but refreshed mentally, taking in every beautiful view as we leave the Stelvio park.
Maps and Stats
Max elevation: 2230 m
Total climbing: 387 m