Val Malvaglia
I did this hike on the 3rd of January, 2025. I had come across this valley when I looked for snow free areas on the map, and it looked like it could be a nice area, so I decided to go on the below hike. Ticino is one of my go to areas for hiking in winter, as it is often possible to find snow free trails at higher elevations.
Full route: Swisstopo
It was a cold but beautiful morning when I started out in Malvaglia. After a short walk out of town, I started the ascent, which for most of the part up was through forest. As it was mid winter, there were no leaves on the trees, and I got the first glimpses of the snow covered mountains in Val Malvaglia.
After a few hours, I reached the top of the hike and had a good long break in the sun. There was almost no snow up here, and it was a very enjoyable walk following the trail high above the valley, once I continued the hike.
As I made my way along the trail, I could see how big a part of the valley is constantly in the shadow in winter. This also meant that the path further down was snow covered. In general, the hiking path is easy and mainly follows wider gravel roads, but due to the snow and some places ice, I had to take it slow for parts of the way down.
Making my way down towards the valley bottom and lake, I also had really nice views of the surrounding mountains. I like hiking in smaller valleys, as it often feels like you are very close to the mountains.
It was great hiking down towards Lake Val Malvaglia and see it from different perspectives. The color of the lake was beautiful in the sunshine, and I took some time walking around the end of the lake and onto the dam. After a while, I got too cold and continued the hike back in direction Malvaglia.
The last part of the hike takes you over a gorge, where you also cross a very beautiful old stone bridge. The gravel road again turns into a hiking path, which you follow until you reach the edge of Malvaglia.
Back in Malvaglia, I took the bus back to Biasca, and from here the train back home to Zürich.
