The Tracciolino, ring from Verceia

Access

From Milan to Verceia along State Road 36; in the centre of the village turn right in the direction of Hotel Saligari: near the hotel and just beyond, two parking spaces.

Introduction

The Tracciolino is the classic and well known flat path that joins the hydroelectric plants of the Valle dei Ratti with those of the Val Codera in a characteristic varied and panoramic way. This excursion is designed to get to know two unusual accesses, dating back to the 1930s when work began: the ascent path is still in use today as a direct route from Verceia to the alpine pastures on the southern side of the Valle dei Ratti; on the other hand, the descent path, a masterpiece of wayfinding in very impervious areas, is in an advanced state of deterioration: invasion by vegetation and erosion due to the passage of ungulates make it sometimes difficult to recognise and often difficult to walk along. Attention must be paid - in autumn and winter - to the considerable mass of dry leaves that insidiously conceal the path: use extra caution in exposed sections. 

Description

From the small car park in Via del Mulino 200m, take the signposted mule track and, between the houses, reach a fountain: the mule track continues to the right and immediately enters the chestnut grove. A few regular hairpin bends and you reach a fork a few metres below an asphalt road near the Crotti di Sceglio in Contrada Zocche 400m. Turn left and begin a long traverse - ascending in places - that enters the Valle dei Ratti. The mule track, at times protected by handrails in the valley, goes past a rockfall tunnel and fords the few waters of the Priasca valley; having gone around a few secondary valleys, it flanks the remains of a cable car and, near a hut with a monumental beech tree, reaches a junction of paths. One chooses the left branch that, in a short time, descends to the bottom of the valley at the upper walkway of the Moledana Dam 905m: having reached the other side, one begins the walk on the Tracciolino. Following the tracks, we pass, in order, the fork to the right for Frasnedo and the upper valley, the keeper's house and the intermediate station of the cableway from Verceia, and some iron bridges, until we reach the main fork of the Tracciolino: we leave the very long tunnel to the right for San Giorgio and Val Codera, choosing the left-hand path. In a few hundred metres, the tracks reach the terminus, a square - with a panoramic view of Lake Mezzola below - at the convergence with the inclined plane of the pipeline of the Campo Mezzola power station. The descent path, clearly discernible under the last arch of the service funicular, starts out very steeply in the thicket that intersects the rock face (very exposed!): passing through hanging groves, ledges and grassy terraces, the track leads to a less steep area, where the original dry-stone structures supporting the passage can be recognised. A particular expanse of tree heather precedes a small bridge crossing the pipeline and a hump of old reforestation with exotic species (Himalayan pines and American red oaks). The mule track, now very comfortable, after passing an old granite quarry, reaches a group of crotti on the border with the first houses of Campo Mezzola. From here you descend to cross the state road and reach a section of disused road on the shore of the lake; follow it to the left until you reach the village of Verceia: signs for the Hotel Saligari lead to the starting point.