Hikes in the Alps in April

April hikes between lakes and mule tracks: Monte Grona above Lake Como, the Tracciolino, the Cardinello and Daloo in Valchiavenna, Lago di Cama.

April is, in our view, the best month for the Prealps: the meadows turn green again, the woods have not yet closed the view of the lakes, and the days are long enough for full hikes without the hurry of winter. The higher summits above Lake Como, such as the ridge between Monte Grona and Bregagno, usually become walkable, and Lago di Cama in Switzerland stops being a gamble, although in a snowy year snow can linger on shaded stretches. It is also the month when the high mountains are most deceptive: from the valley floor it looks like spring, while up high it is still winter.

The Sentiero del Tracciolino, ten kilometres of galleries and tunnels between San Giorgio in Val Codera and Val dei Ratti, is one of our favourite spring hikes, together with the Monte San Primo loop and Monte Cornizzolo via San Pietro al Monte. In Valchiavenna, Daloo and Lagunc form a balcony over the Piana di Chiavenna reached by mule track, while the Sentiero del Cardinello climbs through the narrowest and oldest gorge on the Via Spluga. If you are short of time, Alpe Giumello and Monte Croce di Muggio are still an hour and a half above Lake Como.

Good to know

For centuries the Cardinello was the most feared section of the Splügen mule track, until the carriage road of 1823 bypassed it; today the pass road closes for the winter and reopens in spring, by agreement between the Italian and Swiss authorities, on dates that depend on the snow: in 2026 it reopened on 24 April, while in other years it has slipped into May. It is worth knowing if you plan to go up into upper Valle Spluga, because the path can be clear before the road or the other way round.

In April the danger of wet-snow avalanches grows over the course of the day with warming and sunshine, as every spring bulletin reminds us, and the early morning is usually the safest time. For the hikes on this page that means starting early when the route crosses gullies or higher sections that still hold snow, and bearing in mind that even an easy path can have a delicate crossing until late in the season.