Valtellina Week Hike 2: Val Zebrù to Rifugio Campo – Loop Hike

Overview ~ Notes ~ Flora ~ Photos

 
 

Top left: Trail 526 above Val Zebrù - view west.
Top right: Val Zebrù Hike tracks - we did the hike clockwise.

Bottom left: Four ibex crossing the trail 526.

Bottom right: [Asparagaceae] Paradisea liliastrum.

Overview

Length: 20 km
Duration: 7.25 hours (including long lunch at Rifugio Campo)
Elevation: 900 m
Location: Italy, Lombardy, Valtellina, Valfurva

Notes

In this post, we are on hike 2 of our Valtellina hiking week. For this hike we parked in the Parcheggio di Niblogo (imbocco Val Zebrù), above San Nicolò, in Valfurva. Be sure to pay for parking! From there, the trail starts off as a dirt road and you are walking northeast.

You just keep walking and walking, crossing back and forth over the river. We talked about the geology of the valley and how that effects the plants and animals here in the post Street Sign Language Lesson LIII – A Week in Valtellina.

After a few hours, you’ll reach Rifugio Campo – Val Zebrù. This is where we ate.

Rifugio Quinto Alpini beckons, another few hours away and with a significant climb. It would have been lovely to get to that rifugio but it would have been too much to return to the car, and we would have needed to spend the night. A common several-day hike is in fact is to circumnavigate Monte Confinale (Il giro del confinale) going through Niblogo, Rifugio Alpini, to Rifugio Forni and back – a loop. In our hike today, we are doing a piece of the several-day hike.

Instead of fixating on Rifugio Alpini, we turned uphill from Rifugio Campo after lunch and made a loop back to Niblogo following trail 526. We didn’t see a soul except a group of majestic ibex (stambecchi). It was a steep climb up from Rifugio Campo but then it flattened out with tricky spots. 

Flora

 
[Asparagaceae] Paradisea liliastrum



[Caryophyllaceae] Saponaria sp.



[Ericaceae] Moneses uniflora



[Eurphorbiaceae] Euphorbia cyparissarias



[Gentianaceae] Gentiana sp.



[Lamiaceae] Ajuga pyramidalis


 
[Orobanchaceae] Pedicularis verticillata



[Plantaginaceae] Plantago media



[Ranunculaceae] Clematis alpina



[Rosaceae] Dryas octopetala



[Thymelaeaceae] Daphne sp.

Photos

  

Left and center: Barns in Val Zebrù.
Right: Climbing south up and out from Rifugio Campo to reach trail 526.


  

Left: Looking at the north side of the Val Zebrù - where avalanches are common.

Center: Looking down valley in Val Zebrù.

Right: A meadow in Val Zebrù.


  

Left: Bresaola.

Right: Tagliatelle with venison ragù.

  

Left: South side of Val Zebrù - trail 526.

Center: Trail 526 above Val Zebrù.
Right: The start of the trail into Val Zebrù.

  

Left: Vew from the west flanks of Monte Confinale toward Bormio.

Center: View from Niblogo parking lot over Valfurva.

Right: View toward Niblogo with Bormio in distance.