Nothern Garda Loop Hike

You arrive in Riva del Garda and check in at the hotel. Riva del Garda is an old lakeside township surrounded by mountains at the northernmost tip of Garda. It is a pleasant resort town with cozy medieval streets, a harbor, and a keep. It is also a yachting center. At the hotel, hikers collect special maps that we have prepared and a sleeping bag liner for overnighting at mountain huts along the route.

Today you begin with a challenging uphill section to the crest of the ridge over the lake. From the cliffs standing 1,300 to 1,600 m tall Riva del Garda and the beautiful lakescape come into full view. For the rest of the day the trail follows the crest undulations to a mountain inn perched in a scenic location at an elevation of 1,600 m. As the night draws near, the setting sun highlights the mountain tops out east.

Today's trek is one of the toughest and longest in the itinerary. If the morning is clear, you can admire the beauty of sunrise from the inn. For much of the day the trail threads along the ridge top above the enclosed valley of Val Concei. The trek offers fascinating panoramas: the range stands taller than any other mountain within 10 – 15 km of it. The ridge encircling the valley is the shape of a horseshoe. It forms a giant bowl or mountain amphitheater over the upper part of the valley. The crest trail is centuries old. First trodden by shepherds who preferred to stay high to control their sheep both sides of the ridge, it runs exactly down the crest or several meters below it on one of the sides. The trail has a rugged profile with frequently alternating climbs and descents, so brace up for a challenging trek. No encounters are likely along the way, except with one of two shepherds. At the end of the hard day the trail takes you down to Ledro for a welcome dip in the lake.

The first two days having been quite strenuous, today you may take it easy and recuperate. There is no hurry this morning – there is even time for another dip. From Lake Ledro the route turns towards Garda over the western bank hills covered with beech forests. Several easy passes later the trail reaches Lake Garda at an altitude of about 1,200 meters. Beautiful cliffs protrude well into the lake – you will even find a table on one of them. After crossing a beech forest and taking photos on cliffs above the lake in the second half of the day, you reach a mountain pass from which the trail makes a steep descent to the lakeside town of Limone. The local climate in Limone favors lemon growing, hence its name that is quite uncommon for the Alpine region. Today you overnight at a hotel in Limone. If you can muster enough strength in the evening, you might want to take a stroll through Limone. It is a very beautiful and cozy little town.

We leave Limone in the morning and take a ferry to the east shore of Lake Garda. Here we make a challenging day-long ascent to the ridge of the Monte Baldo range. As we go higher, we leave the warm Mediterranean climate of the lakeside slopes of Garda and pass a green belt into Alpine highlands. At the low point of the ascent, we pass through olive groves along ancient winding cobbled trails. At about 500 m above sea level, the olive groves give way to a deciduous forest that stretches almost all the way to the ridge, gradually being replaced by firs and pines. The trail occasionally leaves the forest and spills onto meadows, passing through hamlets with 2 or 3 houses each and offering spectacular views of Garda and its opposite shore. After reaching the ridge of Monte Baldo, we overnight at a mountain hut in an exceptionally convenient location – on an exposed ridge going down south where we can admire an epic sunset.

The itinerary has another lengthy trek in store for us – along the ridge of Monte Baldo. We are in for multiple scenic vistas of Garda from an elevation of 2,000 m and a stunning panorama of the surrounding mountains. The trail runs along the ridge and slightly below it, mostly over the more shielded and less steeper eastern slope. Monte Baldo appears to be rather flat when seen from the lake. In reality, the ridge of this mountain group is moderately dissected. That's why we will be making numerous ascents and descents, but this won't seem like too big of a challenge after our yesterday's ascent to the ridge. Our itinerary for the day includes: several peaks along the ridge, including the highest point of Monte Baldo – the Cima Valdritta; descents into saddles of gorges on the western slope through which we will be getting glimpses of the still blue waters of Lake Garda; a seldom-traveled trail snaking through the central part of the massif; and unforgettable landscapes all day long.

Today we descend the slope of the Monte Altissimo – the northern peak of Monte Baldo – facing Lake Garda. Almost all day long we will be seeing the sky-blue waters of Garda dotted with sails at the foot of the slope. Along our route today, highlands will give way to meadows, then pine forests and deciduous forests. Many stretches of today's itinerary run over wild slopes where man seldom sets foot. After going down to Torbole, a resort town next to Riva del Garda, we will see a beach with holidaymakers basking in the sun, with the seemingly unreachable peaks of Monte Baldo soaring in a mist high up above. At this point it becomes obvious how much more interesting and diverse are impressions from a mountain hike compared to a week spent lounging on the beach.

Our trip ends here. A morning dip into the refreshing lake waters at the beach of Riva del Garda is guaranteed to wipe away the pleasant tiredness accumulated during our trip. Those who choose to stay in Garda for another day or two might want to try windsurfing or renting a catamaran or a small sailboat. Northern Garda offers the perfect wind conditions for such pastimes.