Hikes in the Alps in October

October hikes among golden larches: Val di Campo with the Saoseo and Viola lakes, Silvaplana to the Maloja Pass, the Rifugio Cristina in Valmalenco.

October is the month of the larches, and almost our whole list revolves around them: the only conifer in the Alps that sheds its needles turns yellow and then orange, and for a few weeks the valleys of the Engadine, Valmalenco and the Aosta Valley change their appearance completely. The exact moment varies from year to year and from valley to valley, because it depends on the first frosts, and it is better followed closely than fixed in September. The days are shorter and cooler, most high huts are closed, but the low autumn light is the best of the year.

In Val di Campo, above Poschiavo, the Saoseo and Viola lakes are at their best between October and November, and it is among the hikes we have scored highest. In the Engadine, the balcony path from Silvaplana to the Maloja Pass looks over the lakes of Sils and Silvaplana with the Bernina behind, while in Valmalenco the short walk to the Rifugio Cristina at Alpe Prabello crosses a larch wood at the foot of Pizzo Scalino. Lower down, the Acquafraggia waterfalls and the Sentiero del Cardinello in Valchiavenna become pleasant again after the summer heat.

Good to know

In the Swiss National Park the larch needles turn yellow in October, with the colour usually peaking around the middle of the month, and fall in the first half of November; the Graubünden tourist board points out that the change comes only after several nights of frost, which is why it varies so much from one year to the next. On the last Sunday of October Europe goes back to standard time, and from that day darkness arrives an hour earlier: on long hikes it is the moment to bring the start forward, not the return.

October is also the month of chestnuts. In Valchiavenna chestnut woods line many of the lower paths, and the crotti, natural cellars among the boulders where the air stays cool all year, are the classic place to end a day on foot, while in South Tyrol the Törggelen begins, the tradition of going from farm to farm to taste the new wine with roast chestnuts and country dishes.