Easy hikes in Lombardy

Mule tracks, little trains, pastures

Some of these walks owe their gentle gradient to industry. The Sentiero del Tracciolino, between Val Codera and Val dei Ratti, was built in the 1930s to link the Moledana dam with the works of the Campo hydroelectric scheme, and a narrow-gauge Decauville railway once ran along it carrying materials and workers: that is why it stays almost level, through tunnels and stretches cut into the rock. Others, such as the Acquafraggia and Savogno loops or the climb to Daloo, follow old mule tracks instead, the everyday roads of a time when the valleys were travelled on foot and by mule.

Many easy walks also pass through high pastures, such as Alpe Giumello or Alpe Prabello by the Rifugio Cristina, and the herds' summer up there is no picturesque detail: transhumance, added to UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage list in 2019 on a nomination by Italy, Austria and Greece, names Lombardy among the alpine regions where the practice is still alive. On the pastures of Valtellina, between June and September, Bitto PDO cheese is made. The etiquette is simple: close gates and fences behind you, keep your distance from the animals and keep your dog on a lead.