Tenero: Up the Valley in 37°C Heat

Switzerland · Ticino · Val Verzasca

Down and then back up the full length of the valley — stinking hot at the bottom, much cooler at the top.

Ridden 24 July 2019, logged in full: "A stunning ride down and then back up the Versasca Valley, Tenero, Switzerland. A tad too hot at the bottom as it was around 37° but much cooler towards the top."

The heat gradient here is worth taking seriously if riding this in summer — the valley floor near Tenero sits low and sheltered by rock on both sides, and real relief higher up is a known feature of these lake-fed Ticino valleys, not a one-off.

I stopped at the dam (Diga di Contra) on the way — and there are coffee shops in Sonogno itself, the village at the head of the valley. On a gravel bike, the tarmac gives way to more beyond Sonogno: a nice spot for a swim in the river, and a separate path following the river further up to another village — see the Sonogno Loop page for that.

Route data (from Strava): 51.4km, 758m of climbing, max grade 32.6% — the steep figure is a short ramp, not the character of the route, which mostly follows the valley floor rather than switchbacking up the sides.

The route, from my own GPS track

Real GPS route map of the 2019 out-and-back ride up the Verzasca Valley from Tenero — The actual recorded route, plotted from my own Strava FIT data onto a real OpenStreetMap base.

This ride was part of a longer camper trip up the valley, 23–26 July 2019 — the photos below span the full trip, not just the ride itself.

What it actually looks like

My Dethleffs motorhome parked at a shaded riverside campsite in the Verzasca Valley — Camp set up under the trees for the few days — the base for the ride and everything else on this page.

My wife and our dog Lillie walking a gravel track toward a stone hamlet in the Verzasca Valley — My wife and Lillie the dog, on the track up toward Sonogno.

A wooden Cognora trail signpost in the Verzasca Valley above Sonogno — The Cógnora signpost — the same trail network the Secada signpost points to on the Sonogno Loop page.

A metal dragon sculpture perched on a rocky summit above Brione, Verzasca Valley — A metal dragon sculpture on a summit above Brione — not an ibex, as it was first (wrongly) labelled on the hub page. Now corrected.

A steel suspension footbridge crossing the Verzasca river gorge — One of the valley's suspension footbridges, crossing the gorge.

Ice cream sundaes on a café table in a stone village in the Verzasca Valley — A café stop in one of the valley villages — proper ice cream, proper view.

A road bike leaning against red rocks beside a suspension bridge in the Verzasca Valley — The bike, propped against the valley's distinctive red-streaked rock.

A road bike resting on a wooden table beside an emerald swimming pool in the Verzasca river — The bike, parked up beside one of the valley's emerald swimming pools.