Toce Waterfall in Val Formazza: Italy's Tallest in Alpine Silence

Italy's tallest waterfall is not in the Dolomites nor in the Maritime Alps. It lies in Val Formazza, a side valley of the Ossola in northern Piedmont, a few kilometres from the Swiss border. The Toce Waterfall — called Frua in local tradition — drops 143 metres in a single leap of granite that in the weeks of spring snowmelt becomes a column of water you hear before you see.

Val Formazza and the Walser

Val Formazza has been inhabited for centuries by a Walser community — German-speaking populations who migrated from the Swiss Alps in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries — and their dialect, Titsch, is still spoken in the village of Formazza (Pomatt in German) and surrounding hamlets. The Walser stone-and-larch houses, with their characteristic granaries raised on stone pillars to prevent rodent access, represent a building type unique in the Italian Alps.

How to Reach the Waterfall

From the village of Riale, at 1,730 metres, a flat 3-kilometre trail leads to the base of the waterfall in under an hour. The best period is May–June, when snowmelt swells the Toce to its maximum. In summer the waterfall loses volume but the valley gains in charm: the flowering meadows around Lago di Morasco, an artificial reservoir at 1,815 metres, are among the most colourful in the Piedmontese Alps.

Where to Stay and How to Get There

Formazza is reached by car from Domodossola in about 50 minutes via the Ossola Valley and then the Val Formazza road. There is no railway. The village has two hotels and some B&Bs; valley restaurants serve game, polenta taragna and Walser alpine-pasture cheeses. Access to the waterfall is free.