By train: Verbania Fondotoce station, Ferrovie dello Stato. Timetables: www.trenitalia.com www.ffs.ch.
By car: Motorway A26 in direction for Gravellona Toce, exit for Verbania. At the first junction in direction of Verbania follow the direction for Mergozzo.

Lake of Mergozzo was formerly part of the Borromean Gulf and Lake Maggiore. Between the thirteenth and fourteenth century the alluvial materials transported by the river Toce replaced a stretch of the lake separating the two basins. Today the two lakes, separated by a fertile plain occupied by meadows, fields, poplar groves, nurseries and campsites, are connected only by a narrow channel, the channel of Mergozzo, or channel of Fondotoce.

The Lake of Mergozzo has taken chemical and ecological characteristics that distinguish it from other lakes. The catchment area of limited size (8,61 km2) consists mainly of granite and metamorphic rocks of low solubility. Consequently the intake of minerals dissolved by rainy water is modest.

With an average depth of 45 meters, and a maximum depth of 73 meters, the lake contains a volume of water equal to 82 million cubic meters. The theoretical renewal time of the waters is six years. The qualitative characteristics of the water have been very good for years thanks to the prohibition of the use of motor boats and the collection of sewage by the town of Mergozzo and subsequent discharge of treated water into the river Toce. Because of the particular morphological situation, which determines conditions of low action of the winds, the waters are always calm and particularly suitable for the practice of canoeing and other water sports, exercising a major tourist attraction.