ViaStockalper - Stockalperweg (Brig - Domodossola)

Passing the Stockalperschloss the path leads the old castle up to the "Bach" and on to the Riedbachstrasse. On the so-called "Römerweg" you reach the hamlet of "Brei" through open meadowland via Lingwurm.

Through the "Gfalte Wald" to "Chalchofe", a slope path carved into the rock under Stockalper and restored in 1992 to its old line leads with an impressive view of the Saltina Gorge and the Rhone Valley. Along the old Napoleon road you will find a link to the mule track below the road. After descending to "Grund", the trail follows the Tafernabach stream. On this path the ascent takes place through the wildly romantic valley to the former inn in the "Taferna". Along artfully designed serpentines you cross the steep step between the Tafernatal and the pass summit.

Light option: Take the post bus to Schallberg, where you get on the path.

2. Etape Simplonpass (2005 m.ü.M.) - Simplon Dorf (1472 m.ü.M.)

At the pass summit, a new hiking trail leads west of the national road through flat pastures until you return to the old mule track. Under the "Alter Spittel", a stretch along the asphalt road, the hiking trail continues to the "Nideralp" and on to the Gasthof Engiloch. The mule track leads to the hamlet of "Maschihüs" through a charming forest pasture landscape, some of which is park-like. The most striking building on this partly medieval section is the Susten building near the "Engi", which dates from before Stockalper. From the "Maschihüs" the path leads parallel to the national road through the hamlet of Egga and up into the forest, where the original course of the mule track under the mighty bedload of the glacier fall of 1901 can only be guessed at. Below the Sengg group of houses, the mule track descends to Simplon Dorf in a line that is optimally adapted to the terrain.

3. Etape Simplon Dorf (1472 m.ü.M.) - Gondo (854 m.ü.M.)

From the cobbled village square, the mule track in front of the "Alter Gasthof" leads through the "Stutzji" to the southern end of the village and on the Napoleonstrasse to a corridor road. This passes under the national road and descends from there through the meadowland of the "Chluisä" in the direction of Gabi. From Gabi, a direct path leads through the imposing Gondo Gorge to Gondo. In the Gondo Gorge individual parts of the mule track laid out by Kaspar Stockalper with its original paved surface have been preserved. After the Napoleonic road was built, most of the Stockalperweg was destroyed. For this reason, during the renovation in 2001/02, the hiking trail had to be rebuilt in the gorge with metal passerelle and footbridges and on the galleries of the national road, a gorge at high risk of falling rocks. At the northern entrance to the Gondo Gorge, the path in the "Äbi" leads past a ruin, a building designed by Kaspar Stockalper as a goods depot. From here the path leads past the "Alte Kaserne", a Napoleonic military building connected to the Stockalperweg by a passerelle. At the Gondo infantry fortress, the path runs underground through a tunnel-like corridor. Below the Gondo fortress, on the right side of the valley, a well-preserved, carefully paved section has been preserved. The path then crosses the Doveria on a new metal walkway. On the left side of the valley, the path descends to Gondo.

4. Etape Gondo (854 m.ü.M) - Bognanco (1240 m.ü.M.)

 The Zwischbergental, Valle Vaira in Italian, begins with a wonderful view of the great waterfall of the Great Water and of the glacier basins. Later you can see the gold mines - the gold of Gondo -, the dam which forms a small lake, the only beech forest of the Valais and, at the top, the larch forests and the steep mountains with their wide clearings and pastures. Even more pastures, peat bogs and dozens of small lakes can be found in the high Bognanco Valley with its shelters.

5. Etape Bognanco (1240 m.ü.M) - Domodossola (274 m.ü.M.)

The fifth stage of the Stockalperweg leads from Bognanco (IT) to Domodossola (IT).

Descent to the scattered village of Bognanco, which today is only a shadow of the once flourishing thermal spa. On the left side of the valley, a beautiful mule track leads us through poetically sleepy hamlets to the charming town of Domodossola.

Brig Simplon Tourismus

Bahnhofstrasse 2

3900 Brig

info@brig-simplon.ch

www.brig-simplon.ch

"Wandern am Simplon"

The publication "Wandern am Simplon" (2008) is a veritable treasure trove for stories and facts from very different areas.

Dr. Klaus Anderegg, as editor, has composed the contributions of numerous authors to the impressive overall picture. On 368 pages eight routes of the unique alpine and mountain region Simplon are presented in a great variety of natural, cultural and historical treasures and curiosities.

Fr. 48  plus packaging and shipping costs; available from Ecomuseum Simplon, 3907 Simplon-Dorf, ecomuseum@simplon.ch (ISBN: 978-3-905756-31-9)

details and order

Book your hiking experience in the form of the ViaStockalper package and follow in the footsteps of the great Kaspar Stockalper.