The Antrona landslide of 1642
Valle Antrona is one of the most remote and least known valleys of the Ossola. In the past it tried to gain importance as a transit valley between Italy and Switzerland on a par with the nearby Simplon Pass, but the Simplon clearly won out.
As if that were not enough, in 1642 an enormous landslide of 20 million cubic metres of earth and boulders broke away from Cima di Pozzuoli, destroying 40 buildings of the old village of Antrona and killing 95 people. Bearing witness to that landslide is Lago di Antrona, which formed precisely as a result of the landslide of 1642.
Lago di Antrona and the Sajont waterfall
We park at Lago di Antrona (m1073), where there are several car parks between the bridge over the Ovesca torrent and Alpe Russi. It seems you can also drive on as far as the dam of Lago di Campliccioli, but we prefer to start from Lago di Antrona. We first go along the north side of the lake, taking a new path with metal railings that leads us behind the Sajont waterfall.
Lago di Campliccioli and the mining path
We then continue along the lakeshore until we meet the path for Alpe Piana and the dam of Lago di Campliccioli (m1352, 1:30 hours). From the dam we climb one hairpin of the road to pick up a fine stretch of a narrow-gauge railway that once served some of the mines in the area.
With the railway underfoot, we reach the far end of Lago di Campliccioli, cross the stream that feeds the lake, and climb to Alpe Granarioli (m1412, 40 minutes), which invites a rest.
The Lago di Cingino variant
Here the path continues to Lago di Cingino, made famous by a BBC video with 200 million views showing a group of ibex clinging to the near-vertical wall of the dam. From Lago di Cingino you can then traverse on the level to Lago di Camposecco through a tunnel more than 2km long dug into the mountain, walking beside the penstock that carries the water of Lago di Cingino to the upstream side of the Campliccioli hydroelectric power station.
The descent
If instead we stop at Alpe Granarioli, we return to Lago di Antrona keeping to the opposite shore of Lago di Campliccioli. Once at the dam (30 minutes), we descend by a wide, handsome mule track, the old Strada Antronasca, on the north side of the valley. On a steady gradient it brings us back to Alpe Ronco, near Lago di Antrona (45 minutes).
