Mountain bike trails in Valmalenco
- Mtb life
- June 2, 2025
Valmalenco by mountain bike — words and photographs by Graziano De Maio, Instagram
Valmalenco has wonderful MTB trails, but this distinctly Alpine valley keeps some of its finest places tucked away. It rewards careful exploration. Here are five areas and rides I particularly enjoy.
In this article
Palù Park
My personal favourite here is Boletus, starting from the plateau reached by the Snow Eagle lift. You can also pedal up from San Giuseppe, gaining around 600 metres. Other lines appear on the map produced by Bike Bernina, the people behind much of the trail building and development here.
Expect enduro terrain: pine needles, roots and rocks in conifer woods with a carpet of blueberry bushes. Before descending, the easy trail around Lake Palù is well worth riding.
Discover the Boletus Trail (in Italian).
Caspoggio
Caspoggio is another of Valmalenco’s trail areas, with a pump track in the village centre, routes descending from the mountain and a training circuit used by the MTB school. Trailforks shows the extent of the network clearly. There are trails of different difficulties, from easy to demanding. During the period described here, Bike Bernina also organised children’s MTB lessons and pump-track practice.
Primolo and San Giuseppe
I love this ride in autumn, when the larches turn gold. Besides being scenic, it connects Chiesa to San Giuseppe and the trails beyond.
Start in Chiesa Valmalenco and climb the tarmac road to Primolo. A lovely hillside trail leaves the village for the sandy ground near San Giuseppe. From there, continue towards Chiareggio or climb to Palù. Return along the same trail to Primolo, then take the flowing enduro descent to Chiesa.
This GPS route includes the connection as part of a lift-assisted ride (in Italian).
Campo Moro
Campo Moro is the most adventurous and demanding ride in this selection, and perhaps the most epic I have experienced in Valmalenco. It lies on the opposite side of the valley from San Giuseppe; you can begin climbing towards its dams from Campo Franscia.
The loop around the lake includes carrying the bike to Rifugio Bignami, followed by a descent requiring enduro skills. This is for technically capable riders prepared for a hard day. The views are magnificent.
GPS track and map · Read the ride report (both in Italian).
Sasso Bianco: added in 2024
We used the Orobici Valtellinesi ASD shuttle to Piastorba for the ascent. With an e-MTB, the summit can also be approached from Postalesio or Sondrio. From Sasso Bianco, we followed the GPS track down enduro trails to Torre Santa Maria, then the Rusca cycle path to the Cassandre footbridge. The lovely Gombaro trail led to the bridge of the same name in Sondrio.
Read the full Sasso Bianco report (in Italian).
