Introduction


“Valmalenco Sentieri - Trails in Valmalenco” is an illustrative guide to help trekkers and tourists to explore and become familiar with this famous Alpine valley in the Valtellina, the heart of the Rhaetian Alps in Lombardy. The valley is renowned amongst trekkers for its great variety of Alpine ecosytems, resulting from an extensive and complex geomorphological history. The Disgrazia-Bernina-Scalino mountain ranges act as a backdrop to these walks, especially the towering Bernina range at 4050 metres, the last 4000 of the Alpine chain towards the east and the highest peak of the Central Alps.
100 Trails in Valmalenco offers over 100 treks, starting with the famous Alta Via della Valmalenco (Valmalenco High Route), with 110 km to be covered in eight stages. It is based on the new Valmalenco Trail Map 1:25000, produced by the Lombardy Union of Municipalities in Valmalenco.
Every trail is mapped out and bears its map reference, level of difficulty, altitudes, estimated trekking time, the mountain huts along it and the official C.A.I. (Italian Alpine Club) trail number. Each trail can be chosen and found by consulting the places it runs through, points of interest and practicability according to individual trekking abilities. It also indicates the more important calendar events in Valmalenco and gives links to portals and websites of tourist/cultural/institutional interest in the Valmalenco-Valtellina area.