Emtb tour Mandello del Lario

Tour between Abbadia Lariana and Mandello del Lario—we recommend doing this on an e-MTB because there are a couple of climbs with gradients well over 20%; the difficulty level doesn’t exceed S3. Welcome to the Eastern Lario and have fun :)

From Abbadia Lariana, we head to Rongio, a hamlet of Mandello. Here, we take the forest road up toGrotta Ferrera, which offers beautiful views of the upper Val Meria and the western slope of the Northern Grigna (the trail ends 3 hairpin turns before the cave; the climb to the cave consists of steps that aren’t too high but are difficult to navigate while seated). We descend to two-thirds of the way down the forest road and take a single track to the right that begins with 4 technical hairpin turns and an S3 rock garden, but then becomes smooth and fast, leading us to the Meira stream, which we cross via a small bridge. We pass along the right bank of the valley to descend to Somana; from there, we follow the Viandante trail and descend to Olcio. this section offers beautiful views of the lake, a narrow, exposed single track to test our balance, and a few rock gardens.

From Olcio, we return to Mandello on the SP72, climb back up to Rongio ,and this time take the steep ascent toward Versarico. The trail covers the entire rideable section of the climb in this narrow valley with steep slopes. Upon reaching the second crossing of the valley, we turn back at the permanent ravine where the Fium d'oa originates. Halfway down the descent, we turn left and begin to follow the TGS (Trail Grigne Sud) for a stretch; We leave it when it begins to climb toward Grigna, continuing straight on a beautiful single track through the woods. Upon reaching a viewpoint overlooking the lake, we begin descending toward Mandello; the trail alternates between flowing ups and downs and steep sections through the woods. After crossing the CAI12 trail, we continue toward Maggiana. After passing through the village, we enter the territory of Abbadia Lariana, climbing until we reach the Giù la testa trail (which this year lost the iconic tree that gave it its name; it was cut down because it was unsafe). From here, we enjoy a fun descent along the stream bed until we reach the trail leading to the Cenghen waterfall, We descend for a few hundred meters, cross the Zerbo stream, and upon reaching the Abbadia-Colonghelli dirt road, we follow it uphill for a kilometer before tackling a traverse with some technical uphill sections that brings us back to the Cenghen waterfall. From here, the final descent begins down to Maggiana, and then we return to Abbadia. On thislast descent is always muddy; if you want to get home clean, you can head down toward the Abbadia-Colonghelli dirt road to take the final section of Giù la testa, which exits at Borbino.