Loop of the Cassandre

The Cassandre are wild ravines dug by the waters of the Mallero as they flow out of the Valmalenco valley.

It’s not possible to get a close up look, but this trail loops around them for almost 8 km, with an altitude difference of almost 500 m. It passes through the villages of Ponchiera, Arquino and Mossini, joining up with the Rusca trail for some distance.

Starting from Piazza Quadrivio, the route climbs up to Ponchiera along via Scarpatetti, passes through the village following the road to Arquino and crossing the Mallero torrent on the stone bridge at Caparč. The loop trail continues on to the end of the cluster of houses, towards Mossini, and at the sign marking the boundary of the village, turns to the left on an unpaved track; from this point, the trail runs through woods for about 2 km before coming to the hamlet of Tarchi, just before the houses of Mossini, and passes through the “dosso Murascio”.

The route crosses the center of the village, passing by the church of S. Carlo. The route descends, and continues on to the left until the hamlet of Maioni, from where it veers to the south, passing through meadows and vegetable patches and then briefly through some woods. It continues downhill, along the left flank of the terrace of Mossini until it reaches Gombaro.
We cross back over the Mallero on an iron bridge and re-enter Sondrio.