Bagni del Màsino, from San Martino

Access

From Milan to Ardenno along State Roads 36 and 38; at the junction immediately after the bridge, turn left and go up the entire length of Val Masino to the village of S.Martino. Look for parking in the market square/sports field.

Introduction

A hike that can only be comfortably carried out when there is a large amount of snow, in order to be able to use alternative routes to the provincial road (not swept after San Martino), which is very pistoned by pedestrians. Some slight danger of falling ice near the thermal spring. Also watch out for treacherous terrain - pockets of emptiness - between the boulders in the Foresta dei Bagni.

Description

From the San Martino car park (923m), descend briefly to the bridge you have just crossed by car and take the little path up the right-hand bank; the slightly winding track climbs up the wooded slope with short hairpin bends and in a few hundred metres approaches the Val di Mello stream again: cross it over the bridge-canal and you reach the carriageway that heads into the valley. On the opposite side of the road begins a flat track which, passing high up behind San Martino, leaves Val di Mello and heads into the dark Valle dei Bagni: we soon reach the point where the provincial road is no longer cleared of snow. We find ourselves in the Bregolana plain (summer camping, refreshments and ice skating): just opposite the entrance to the campsite, we cross the river on a convenient bridge and plunge into the dark environment of the Bregolana consortium forest. You walk for a long time on continuously gently sloping terrain among the fir trees, with a winding path among the alluvial boulders: the direction is roughly parallel to the stream or its secondary branches (a few paint tags on the trunks) until you come out again on the provincial road near a right-hand bend. From here, follow the snow-covered road downhill for about a hundred metres, until a yellow signpost indicates to the left the pedestrian direction for the Bagni on the "old road"; the track climbs up a wooded shoulder with a few easy hairpin bends until it reaches a level with a row of walnut trees that leads to the Bagni del Màsino hamlet 1172m. After the small church building (dated 1631), one arrives at the thermal complex: on the right are the 'technical' buildings, on the left the hotel, united by a suggestive covered corridor; ascending flush with the buildings towards the mountain, via an uneasy little path, one arrives at the 'grotto' of the thermal spring. In any season of the year, water at 38°C gushes out in very small quantities from a double blowpipe, which seems to be endowed with many beneficial effects: on holidays, a queue of people is inevitable for tasting and drawing. Continue past the buildings in the direction of the refuges: leave the sign for the Gianetti Refuge on the right (dangerous with unstabilised snow) and head briefly towards the Omio Refuge; at the first bridge, cross to the left and you will reach the hut that houses the Bagni del Màsino Regional Forest Information Centre: at the entrance, you will notice the frescoed illustration of a Rosalia Alpina, a rare beetle that is protected and encouraged to reproduce here. From here, probably without a beaten track, we ascend into the stupendous environment of the forest: keeping a south-easterly direction without too much concern, we look for the best passage between the trunks of the fir and beech trees and the large boulders (in summer covered with moss and now lacquered with icy snow); avoiding descending too far, we pass the Bagni - without being able to see them - and continue until the size of the boulders decreases, making it difficult to find a passage: and then you descend on the steepest line and reach an old building beside the provincial road. From here, following the carriage road or a short short cut, you go back to the uphill tracks before the 'old road'. Back at the Bregolana, it is worth returning to the car park along the tarmac road through the village of San Martino, taking the opportunity to observe the curious wall frescoes.