Look north from Stresa and you'll see a range of mountains rising up almost sheer from the valley floor. This is the edge of Val Grande, claimed to be Italy's, if not Europe’s, largest wilderness area.

​

The permanent population has dwindled away to almost nothing but, incredibly, in the inter-war years there was a thriving timber business, so much so that the Val Grande area was an economic powerhouse, boasting narrow gauge railways, cable cars and Italy’s first hydropower station. set up by the driving force behind the area’s development, Carlo Sutermeister.

​

Nature has almost totally reclaimed Val Grande and there is little to see of the boom-times other than a handful of ghost villages and some examples of industrial archaeology, such as cable car pylon bases, hidden amongst the trees.

​

It takes two days to cross Val Grande from South to North but as most paths are overgrown the route is dangerous and should only be undertaken by expert hikers. The most popular route is from Val Loana in the north down to Colloro in Val d’Ossola.

 

Cicogna

​

Cicogna, population twelve, is a back-of-beyond speck of a village tucked away deep amongst rugged mountains. As the only permanently inhabited settlement within Val Grande, it is considered the Park’s capital. You can reach Cicogna by car from Rovegro along a long, very narrow road (7km though it feels much longer) with few passing places. In the summer there are a couple of places to grab a bite in Cicogna as well as a bed and breakfast. Leave your car there and continue on foot for 1 hr 30 minutes to the ghost village of Pogallo.

​

Notice the number of soldiers whose names are carved into the village’s war memorial. Sadly, in many Italian mountain villages, it is not uncommon for the total number of war dead to greatly outnumber the number of current inhabitants.

​

Pogallo

​

Pogallo was once a short-lived, high-tech powerhouse, probably boasting electricity before  Rome; now it is seemingly just another abandoned rural hamlet deep in Val Grande. A seriously remote settlement which lies abandoned for most of the year, Pogallo was once the nerve centre of a thriving timber business, the brainchild of one fascinating man: Karl (Carlo) Sutermeister.

 

In a lifetime of superlatives, Swiss-born Sutermeister established Italy’s first mechanical cotton spinning mill - in Intra, the country’s first alternating current hydroelectric power station - in nearby Cossogno in 1890, as well as being Italy’s first businessman to introduce an employee insurance scheme.

​

It may be hard to believe now, gazing out over the peaceful deserted hamlet surrounded by encroaching forest, but this area was once a hive of activity, with Sutermiester’s company providing accommodation for hundreds of workers, a communal oven, a police station, inns and even a school.

​

Sadly, the only visible sign of his legacy is his once fine house, now ruined, built on a rise just behind Pogallo. You might also stumble across a small section of Decauville narrow gauge railway which was used to transport timber to an interchange point before being loaded onto a daring cable car system and carried over mountain peaks down to Val d’Ossola.

​

Pogallo and its valley have now gone full-circle: the restless landscape was transformed by man into a treeless wasteland but, since the last war, nature has once more gained the upper hand and a thick canopy of trees encroaches on the hamlet.

​

The easiest way to reach Pogallo is by following the track from Cicogna. The walk takes an hour and thirty minutes and should perhaps not be undertaken in winter due to the danger of slipping on the huge stone slabs which were laid along part of the route.

​

Wild Swimming

 

Down below you’ll notice an area where the river has carved itself out a pretty riverbed with comfortable gravel banks. Great for swimming.

​

Another excellent spot for wild swimming can be found further downstream where the Pogallo mountain stream takes the name San Bernardino. Other than the mighty Toce, Lago Maggiore’s main tributary, the San Bernardo is the largest river in the central/south area of Lago Maggiore and, as it is north of the main town of Verbania, through which it flows, is popular with locals - families and thrill-seekers alike.

​

The river, which is popular with locals, can be accessed at different points before it flows out of its ravine and into Lago Maggiore but is at its most enchanting as it gushes through deep forested valleys in Val Grande.

​

Your best bet is to drive to Rovegro, a few kilometres from Verbania, pass through the small village and head for Cicogna.

After a couple of kilometres, look out for cars parked by the roadside. In high season, you can probably assume the occupants are down by the river.

​

After a short walk, you’ll find lovely natural pools with boulders and slabs of rock for sunbathing and diving; depending on the season, the water may occasionally be fairly fast-flowing so unsuitable for children. There are no facilities, so remember to bring drinking water.

​

Further upstream, above the Caslano bridge, just after the road emerges from a tunnel, the river gorge offers an incredible pallet of colours in the evening as the sun sets. A vertigo-inducing pathway used to be bolted to the cliff-side but after part of it collapsed, is no longer accessible.  

​

​