Val Algone: discovery trail in Parco Naturale Adamello Brenta

Rifugio Ghedina

From Stenico drive through Val Algone all the way up to Albergo Brenta where the paved road ends. Leave the car at the carpark, take the uphill path on the right of the Hotel and enter the woods to reach the forest road. Turn right and continue along the forest road that runs through the woods bordering pastures, once harvested and now left as part of the woodland; as you climb you will pass the debris of a disused quarry where quartz was extracted and later used by the glass industry which thrived in the valley between 1800 and 1880, as evidenced by the glass factory ruins near Rifugio Ghedina. Pass the quarry and continue through the forest to reach the pastures around Malga Nambi dotted with enormous beech trees.  During the grazing season the farmstead offers restaurant service and rooms for overnight staying. From the farmstead descend on the right along the main road that runs along the bottom of the valley. Shortly after the bridge over the Torrente Algone, enter the SAT 333 path on the right leading through Valle di Stenico to reach the pastures around Vallon, a former farmstead now used as a summer camp residence. Re-join the main road, where you can stop following the SAT signs and continue walking up the road, bearing left, for 150 metres until you reach a crossing signposted with a national park trail that runs along a rocky river bed. Cross the dried-up river bed and continue through the woods to exit onto the pastures of Malga Stabli, previously a site for spring and autumn grazing for the cattle of Malga Valagola, currently used as summer camp residence. After walking 200 metres into the fields, you will see on the right a small track that descends towards the river bed, crosses it over a bridge and continues to reach the old glass factory ruins near Rifugio Ghedina. Return to Malga Stabli along the same path you initially set off from. When you reach the pastures, continue bearing right and, shortly after the stables, turn left to join the Thun path of Parco Naturale Adamello Brenta. After winding through the woods for a while, the path leads to a road: turn left first and then right until you reach the main paved road that runs along the bottom of the valley. Walk up this road for 400 metres; just before entering the fields take the forest road, on the left, that rises through the woods heading north.  Continue uphill following the borders with the fields until you re-join the path from which you set off at the beginning to return to the car.