Departure point:   

Fondovalle (VB), Italy

How to get there:   

By train: Domodossola Station, Ferrovie dello Stato. Timetables: http://www.trenitalia.com/; www.ffs.ch
By bus: bus for Fondovalle and Ponte, line Domodossola – Cascata del Toce. Timetables: www.vcoinbus.it
By car: A26 motorway to Gravellona Toce, then SS33 Sempione, after Domodossola take the exit for Valle Formazza, pass through Crodo, Baceno  and following in direction of Val Formazza at the end of the tunnel you will reach Fondovalle.

General Description:   

Salecchio is an old Walser settlement founded in the thirteen Century by German settlers immigrated from the Valais on a steep rocky terrace on the Antigorio Valley: 50 stables for 25 houses, an economy based for seven centuries on breeding. Isolation and marginality led to the abandon of the village in1966, however preserving the architectural particularities until today.

The route:   

From Fondovalle take the road underpass avoiding the tunnel and get onto the old hairpin road towards Foppiano. You will leave it almost at once to follow the track for Altillone and along the Via Crucis, we arrive at  Altillone’s small lake and then at the village with its characteristic Oratory. From Altillone the trail continues hillside in the wood until it comes across the path going up from Chioso to Alpe Vova. Go along the path towards Alpe Vova and the Oratory. Go down to cross the torrent and up along the meadows and after an hillside  stretch you will reach the houses of Case Francoli (wonderful examples of Walser architecture). Continue on the flat trail along the old kiln and go down on the trail up to Salecchio Superiore. After a visit to the mill, the furnace and the old hydraulic sawmill, follow down on the mule track, pass under the arcade of a chapel and down towards Salecchio Inferiore. From the church a trail goes down at the end of the village and continues crossing several times the track until you arrive at the barrier and the parking before the tunnel. From here turn right and follow a stretch of the old mule track until you see the chapel where the year of construction is engraved (1729). The track continues for short stretches. Continue on the track and following the hairpin bends you will reach the bottom of the valley up to the locality of Passo.

Useful information:   

Trail G27 and G21

Where to eat:  

Rifugio Zum Gora, Frazione Salecchio Superiore, VB, (IT) tel.  +39 346 53820279, info@rifugiozumgora.it