Malcantone e Alpe Agario

An e-bike route that starts in Bioggio and winds its way through the peaceful Malcantone region. You immediately leave the traffic behind to take the Ronchi climb, which leads to Cademario—first along a dirt road and then along a narrow paved road through the vineyards, offering a beautiful view of Lake Lugano.

In Cademario, we follow the main road to the left and reach the crest, which for us leads not to a descent but to another climb, first on a trail and then on a dirt road toward San Bernardo. Before the summit, we turn right, where shortly after the descent toward Iseo begins: fairly smooth and fast, it has a couple of steep sections and is a lot of fun (S1). From Iseo, we climb and then descend on asphalt toward Aranno. We head into the village center to take the Sentiero delle Meraviglie, which leads us to the Maglio del Malcantone, the only lever-operated hammer mill currently in existence in Switzerland. This trail is also smooth and fairly easy (S1), with its final section running alongside the stream. Near the hammer mill, you’re sure to see people in swimsuits sunbathing or swimming on hot days.

We climb up the opposite side of the stream and, after crossing a tributary, turn left uphill toward Breno. This trail is fully rideable on an e-bike, even though it’s quite steep and has many tight turns. The route winds through the woods—a real delight. We arrive at a pasture where we take a small road that leads us to Breno. From here, we follow the quiet paved road to Vezio, where the longest climb of the day begins toward Alpe Agario. At first, it’s a very rocky dirt road but not very steep; near Alpe Coransù, things change radically, as the road becomes steep and muddy. By the way, there are countless fountains along the entire route, and the water is fresh and delicious. When we emerge from the woods, the road turns into a trail and the view is breathtaking.

There are 6–7 tight, carved-out hairpin turns that will require you to get off your bike and push, after which the trail is easy all the way to Alpe Agario, the highest point of the ride (1,494 meters).

A well-deserved break, near yet another fountain and with a view of the very long traverse that now awaits us all the way to La Bassa.

This begins with a nice descent on a smooth trail to Alpe Nisciora.

It continues with several ups and downs, some of which require you to push your bike through the small valleys where the trail is partially washed out by water. Some technical sections are best tackled on an e-bike, climbing up the rocky steps. This brings us to the last pasture before La Bassa, where the trail becomes smooth again, and just before La Bassa, we take the trail to the right that descends toward Arosio, also used by those coming down from Tamaro.

In my opinion, this is one of the most beautiful and rewarding trails in the entire area. It’s not just downhill; it features several climbs and, above all, requires careful line selection on some S3 sections. I assure you it’s all rideable, though perhaps not on your first attempt. We thus arrive above Arosio, which we reach after a short descent on asphalt, then turn left to take the Arosio-Bedano trail—a bike-specific trail with berms, jumps, steep sections, and plenty of fun (S2). The final stretch feels like a bike park.

We emerge onto a paved road and head straight down to Vedeggio (watch out for the two intersections!), where we follow the bike path alongside the river back to Bioggio.