Walserweg Gottardo

You leave the densely built village along the mighty avalanche protection dam, which is intended to divert the snow masses from the Riale di Bedretto. A steep elevation gain of around 400 metres in the dense mountain forest connects Bedretto with Alp Pesciora. The snow rakes in the area are intended to protect the village from avalanches. When you arrive at the first terrace, the mountains of the Cristallina area appear in the south. A road then runs to a fortress high above the valley and Airolo. Above the village of Villa Bedretto, you pass the gigantic avalanche protection structures with walls, dams and snow rakes. In addition to the development of the alpine farms, the road that you now follow was also necessary for their construction.

On the way, the view across the Bedretto Valley is fabulous: the view sweeps from the San Giacomo Pass to Airolo, and down to the densely packed villages in the valley bottom. Meanwhile, you are approaching civilisation, as the noise from the modern Gotthard Pass road becomes louder.

On a ridge near a former fortress, the wide path now turns north and crosses the Val Tremola high up in the rocks. This convenient path through the rugged rock face is most likely a pleasing remnant of the fortress building. The historic Tremolastrasse with its famous cobblestones and its many breakneck hairpin bends soon comes into sight on the opposite slope. In summer, a four-horse Gotthard postal coach operates along this route from Andermatt to Airolo as a tourist attraction. The ride on the historic Tremola is also a highlight for racing bike fans. At the end, the hiking trail follows the gallery of the new pass road for a long time and finally reaches the busy Ospizo di San Gottardo via a hilly rocky landscape.