For a beautiful day hike in Ticino Switzerland, consider hiking around three beautiful lakes in the Piora Valley. This three lake route is easily reachable from the start of Funicular Ritom, for those who hike often or occasionally. There are a few routes to hike, but we cover the route starting from Lago Ritom, via Lago di Tom to Lago Cadagno. This stunning route covers just under 7km and takes a few hours without stops.
We highly recommend this route if you have at least an afternoon, else to make it a full day hiking journey in the Piora Valley – as it is truly stunning on a sunny day. Read on to see our hike and photos!
Piora Valley
The Piora Valley, also known as Val Piora is an alpine area situated at 1800-2200 meters. This area is located in the Ticino Canton of Switzerland.
For those who want to explore in nature, the Piora Valley offers an extensive network of hiking trails that meander through its beautiful terrain. The landscape has a few waterfalls you can walk past, as well as being surrounded by the beautiful wildflowers and overall stunning green areas.
Keep your eyes open, as you might even catch a glimpse of the Ticino canton’s wildlife, adding a touch of mystery to your adventure. For us, we saw hundreds of butterflies, a cute little grey vole and the local cows!
The three lakes that we are covering in this post are: Lago Ritom, Lago di Tom and Lago Cadagno.
The Three Lakes Route
This the route we decided to follow.
You start at around 1830m elevation and reach 2022m elevation during the route. So there is not much gain, however we did also deviate from this route to reach a local peak in the area which got us up to 2250m elevation.
This route is advertised at around taking 2 hours total over a distance of 6.5km, but with stops for lunch/snacks and additional photography spots we did end up taking much longer personally. The hiking area is so pretty that you should plan additional time to sit and relax here.
Ritom Funicular
For this hiking route, you start at the Ritom Funicular. Which is the little blue icon at the bottom left of the image above.
This old but beautifully red painted funicular is one of the steepest funicular of the world with a 87.8% maximum gradient. It can carry up to 50 people each time on way, as well as space for larger items like bikes.
From bottom to top, it takes only a 12 minute journey. Which sure was cool to experience!
It is open only from mid May until mid October on a daily basis, so if you plan to hike this route before May or After October, you will not have access to the funicular.
Fun Fact: There is a race here called Stairway to Heaven, where you race up this Europe’s steepest staircase. The staircase has a total of 4261 granite steps with the 800m of altitude difference in just 1.3 km.
Would you consider this event?! Let us know!
How To Get To Ritom Funicular
The Funicular has around 50 parking spots for those who wish to arrive by car, else there is a public bus that has a stop right nearby.
When driving, you will see easily the signposts nearer to the area for “Funicolare Ritom”. We personally drove from Lugano which took about 1 hour only. This is an easy drive on the highway towards the scenic San Gotthard Pass (tip for another day) or tunnel.
When arriving by public transport, we suggest you use the SBB for your trip, which you can calculate easiest depending on where you will be coming from. The main train station nearby is the Airolo train station, which from there you can then take a local yellow bus.
Address: Via Funicolare 3, 6776 Piotta
Lago Ritom
Elevation: 1,850 m
Hiking to Lago Ritom is the start of your journey, if you are following this post. It is around a 22 minute / 1.5 km walk from the Ritom Funicular to the start of Lago Ritom.
We arrived with quite a few people, but everyone had a different pace and direction so we ended up alone pretty quickly. You could tell from our visit that the water level was a lot lower than it used to be in the lake.
Walking around Lago Ritom is very easy, as this is a mostly flat circular route. When arriving from the funicular, we took the left route around the lake towards Lago di Tom quickest, but you can also consider walking the other way and doing the route in reverse.
During this section, you may spot a few local cows on the mountain side. The section between leaving Lago Ritom and Lago di Tom is where we had to enter their area. So at one point we also got to walk right past them, but they kept to themselves!
Facts About Lago Ritom:
- The lake is known for its trout population
- The lake is an artificial reservoir, created for hydroelectric power generation
- The dam here was constructed between 1918 and 1920
Lago di Tom
Elevation: 2,022 m
Lago di Tom was smaller than Lago Ritom but prettily situated between the peaks. When we arrived there were people swimming and dipping their toes into the lake. There were others simply relaxing with a book and sunglasses, so if you have the time, enjoy it!
The lake here had some little fish swimming around, which were clearly visible from the clear water’s edge.
We enjoyed an easy 30-40 minutes here, with some snacks and water.
To get to Lago Cadagno, you now need to walk up from Lago di Tom to a slightly higher elevation before the route downwards. It’s not that far, but make sure to look back for the views!
It was a very hot day during our visit, but decided hike up to one of the peaks between all three lakes just before we headed down to Lago di Tom. This was slightly off route from the map shared above, by only about 15minutes. On the map you can see a spot called Motta at 2116 meters elevation, where we easily hiked up for a good view of all three lakes!
Facts About Lago di Tom:
- The lake is great for swimming in, with a beach area with a long shallow area
- The lake has fish, which is ideal for those wanting to do some fishing
- It’s the perfect spot for a picnic or snack before hiking further
Lago Cadagno
Elevation: 1,921 m
Continuing the hike, the slope takes you down all the way to the village area. For photographers, this view is stunning with the village, lake and mountains combined.
By the time we were hiking down to Lago Cadagno in the middle of the Piora valley, we decided to stop at the local restaurant Ristoro Taneda for a cold drink. It’s a beautiful spot that you can also choose to eat at, with indoor and outdoor seating.
For those who would want to spend longer up the mountains, you could consider having 1 (or more!) at Capanna Cadagno. This we see is a mountain hut location you can sleep at, where they often provide fresh food like pasta as well as clean rooms and showers to use.
Facts About Lago Cadagno:
- The lake is one of the highest lakes in Ticino at 1,921 m
- The lake is a rare example of a meromictic lake, meaning its water layers do not mix completely like in most lakes. The top layer has oxygen and supports diverse microbial life, whereas the bottom layer lacks oxygen and harbors unique sulfur bacteria.
- The lake is part of the municipality of Quinto, in the Swiss National Park
Piora Valley Visiting Tips
We loved our hike here at the three lakes in Ticino, and will definitely return again. The scenery was great, we had good clear weather and it was not very busy with other hikers. So we were often the only ones around at certain points!
Here are some of our personal tips when visiting the Piora Valley with these three lakes:
On a hot day you should make sure to have a sun hat or suncream, as there is hardly any shade on this route. Which is the same for colder days, to be prepared with warmer clothes and possible rain gear!
Take plenty of snacks and drinks with you. It’s always good to have something, even if not planning to sit around or stay long. Staying hydrated and with good energy food will keep you going! Plus if you have time, stop at the restaurant we mentioned, its a lovely little spot for a break with shade.
Wear suitable hiking shoes, since you are hiking after all! However based on our experience, we did this hike in our sneakers, since there was not much climbing throughout. This was comfortable for us, but others may find actual hiking shoes with better support more appropriate.
Make sure your camera/phone is charged, or take a powerbank for additional charges. If you’re like us, you’ll take many beautiful photos!
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