Val Grande: the wildest corner of Italy

A few kilometres from the crowded shores of Lake Maggiore opens the Val Grande, the most extensive wilderness area in Italy: no roads, no inhabited villages, only trails, dense woods and abandoned alpine pastures. And yet almost no one knows it, and that is exactly the point. While the lake below fills its boats and lakefronts, up here the silence is total.

A returning wilderness

Entirely contained within the province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, in Piedmont, the valley is protected by a national park established in the early 1990s. Its is a "returning wilderness": until a few decades ago these slopes were inhabited, grazed and exploited for timber, then the abandonment of the mountain dairies in the mid-twentieth century made room for the forest, which slowly took possession of everything. As you walk you come across the ruins of the pastures, dry-stone walls and stone huts devoured by greenery: traces of a mountain farming world that nature has reabsorbed.

A valley of memory

It isn't only a wild valley, it's also a valley of memory. For its harshness and the difficulty of access, during the Second World War it became a refuge for partisan bands, and it was the stage for tragic pages of the Resistance. Some routes, like the trail dedicated to the writer and partisan Nino Chiovini, retrace the sites of the round-up of the summer of 1944: to walk them is to cross through this history too.

How to enter

You enter only on foot, through gateways on the edges of the massif such as Cicogna, Malesco, Intragna or Premosello Chiovenda. From here a network of trails pushes on towards the heart of the valley. The refuges and bivouacs are spartan, the phone signal is absent for long stretches, and this is precisely the value of the place. But it's not a trip to improvise: the routes are long and demanding, with steep changes in elevation, and require experience, good physical preparation, a map, navigation skills and self-sufficiency in water and food.

When to go

The best period runs from late spring to autumn, when the trails are clear of snow; September and October offer extraordinary light and colours and even fewer people. Go with respect and slowness, leaving everything as you found it. It's the exact opposite of the lake teeming just below, and it's right there, a stone's throw away, for those who know how to look for it.

Related guides: An alternative to Lake Como: the romantic and peaceful lakes of northern Italy · The All Saints' long weekend: villages, foliage and thermal baths without the tourists.

Getting there

You approach by car via the A26 Genoa–Gravellona Toce, on the Piedmontese side of Lake Maggiore. From Verbania you follow the signs for Cossogno and then a narrow but paved road climbs up to Cicogna, the last village reachable by car and the classic starting base for the park's trails: drive carefully, especially in high season. By train the reference points are the stations on the Milan–Simplon line (Verbania and Domodossola), from where local bus services connect the valley's centres.