Hikes in Ghiffa

Hike from Sacro Monte near Ghiffa around Monte Cargiago with some beautiful viewpoints. The Sacro Monte with its churches and chapels is also very nice.

Above the baroque sanctuary of the pilgrimage site SS. Trinità di Ghiffa, we explore the special nature reserve of Sacro Monte on an archaeological educational trail.

There are three sights on the short route.

Scenic hike through winding villages and forests.

On a shady forest path to archaeological rock carvings The Sacro Monte with gracefully arranged sacred buildings around a courtyard rises 150 m above the town of Ghiffa. It is the starting point for hikes through the nature reserve »Riserva Naturale Speciale del Sacro Monte della SS. Trinità«, which extends around Monte Cargiago, 713 m.

A beautiful round through chestnut forests above Ghiffa. Beautiful views and the buildings of Sacromonte enrich the hike. You ascend on narrow paths, mulatieras, and forest trails.

The Sacro Monte towers 150 meters above Lake Maggiore and offers a magnificent view. This is one of the reasons why it serves as the perfect wedding venue for many young couples. Towering above it is Monte Cargiago, which reaches a height of 713 m. The small valley behind it is now almost completely uninhabited, but it boasts sensational archaeological finds whose significance has not yet been fully deciphered. So, on our tour, we once again combine beautiful natural scenery with cultural highlights. ▶ At the top parking lot of the Santuario della Trinità 01 church, hiking trail number 18 begins at a trail marker. The beautifully laid-out trail first takes us down wide steps into the forest and quickly to a water tower; from there, we turn left onto the wide forest path through the impressive chestnut grove. After 5 minutes, we leave the path by turning right. At a tree stump, we see trail markings and a signpost. The trail now turns into a proper mountain path, but it winds its way uphill through the forest in switchbacks—a very pleasant and easy hike. Ignoring a fork to the left, we climb quite steeply to the small Cappella della Sabbia Rossa, built in 1690. We continue hiking uphill to the left past the chapel and, about 10 minutes later, after a rocky section of the trail, we finally reach the mountain ridge.Here we turn right and now have a pleasantly flat stretch of trail ahead of us. Shortly thereafter, we come to a wayside cross, where we can descend to the right in less than a minute to a beautiful viewpoint. The view of Lake Maggiore and Laveno with its Pizzoni is fantastic here and can be enjoyed from the bench.Back at the last fork, we continue to the right and see the small Laghetto delle Streghe below on the left. We follow the trail markers and make another short, steep climb up a small hill; at its highest point, we reach a transmission tower 02 and the start of a narrow paved road.We follow the little road, Via Belvedere, downhill and come to another beautiful viewpoint. 50 m further on, where the sandy path Via Inkanti branches off sharply to the left, we head slightly left onto the trail into the thicket (marker on a pole). Walking along a stream, we reach the soccer field and children’s playground and cross a meadow into the center of Pollino 03. Here we can either go straight ahead to the church and then turn left onto Via San Rocco back to the road, or turn left immediately and follow the road, passing a bar along the way. At the western edge of town, we come to a strikingly large beige village stone. Here, we turn left onto the narrow paved road, Via per Carogno. It leads us gently down into the valley behind Monte Cargiago and soon becomes a wide forest road. Shortly after crossing the stream, we come to a fork. Trail 18a, which branches off to the left here, would take us back to the ridge and the Cappella della Sabbia Rossa. However, we continue straight ahead and once again come across a stream and an intensely fragrant pine forest. Without turning off, we reach the Cappella di Monte 04. Here we continue our hike on the “Sentiero Archeologico,” which branches off to the left and is marked with orange dots. It leads us a short distance up through the forest, then turns right and winds around the mountain in a long left curve. Along the way, we repeatedly pass historically interesting finds, which are explained to us on information panels.Where our forest path unexpectedly offers a beautiful view of the lake (benches), we descend briefly and steeply to the right to a wide forest trail with a hiking sign 05. We continue to the left, passing a spring and the Cappella del Porale, built in 1797. About 250 m past it, we can branch off slightly by turning half-right onto the forest path. It ends back at our forest road, along which we head downhill and to the left to the beautiful Sacro Monte, where our tour began.

Cannero - Donego - Gonte - Camogno - Ronco - Carpiano - Intra