At the end of July, I had the opportunity to visit Livigno during the Great Days festival. But as this part of Italian alps is full of great trails, with our crew we stayed here for over a week. For all of 7 days of riding we didn’t have a moment to be bored. Especially that you can find trails for almost every riding style. From smooth scenic singletrails, through tough natural enduro, to well-prepared jumps and berms at bikeparks. In this article, I will focus on what the Livigno area is famous for – endless, flowy alpine singletrails.
Livigno by bike
Livigno is situated at an altitude of 1,800 meters above sea level. and surrounded by massive mountains whose peaks reach 3,000 m. The Alps, which at first glance from the bottom of the valley, seem steep, and sometimes even inaccessible. However, mountains here offer a lot of different routes. Interestingly, a large part of marked trails are officially prepared as hiking and biking routes. I mean not only the areas intended for bikeparks, but also typical tourist paths that lead much further into the mountains than any ski lift can take us. Of course it is much easier to quickly and comfortably travel to the top with a lift, but if you want to see something more, I really recommend going for a day trip to other, more wild parts of the mountains.
Livigno – Carosello 3000
People who come to Livigno and want to ride the famous scenic flow trails should try at first Carosello 3000 resort. In summer, it is served by 2 long gondolas that start from different points in the valley and one chairlift. In total, there are approx. 50 km of trails available here. The vast majority of them are well-shaped flow trails. It is not a typical bike park, in which, after leaving the lift, you fall straight onto the downhill trails. There are times when you need to pedal up a bit, so an all mountain or enduro bike is recommended. The center will also be happy to host e-bike riders. Most of the trails over here consist nice berms and rollers. You will not find any technically difficult elements on them. It is aimed more at the smoothness of riding combined with admiring the beautiful views around. It is a great place for beginners and intermediate mountain bikers looking to have a nice day biking. For those who want to see a little more of the area, the Tutti Frutti Epic tour was created.
Carosello 3000 – Tutti Frutti Epic MTB Tour
The Tutti Frutti Epic tour was designed by Hans Rey himself, a true MTB legend. The name of a tour, which in free translation means “best if the best”, is a kind of a preview of what awaits us on the route. The approximately 50-kilometer tour shows the highlights of the Carosello 3000 Resort, and several points offering even more extensive views. In total, it consists of 10 stages, which are shown on a special map and marked with official checkpoints in the terrain. with dealing with 3900 meters of elevation, you will be assisted by the lifts of the Carosello 3000 resort, thanks to which such a trip can be easily done in one day. Sometimes you will have to pedal a bit to get to all the places, but you only have to climb 85 meters vertically. It is definitely worth a bit of a workout to visit the Madonon peak or the beautiful and wild Federia valley. We personally done the entire trip during the Great Days Festival when taking part in the Tutti Frutti Challange and it was an amazing day on a bikes. If you like such a sightseeing ride as the Tutti Frutti Epic Tour, then You must also try trail called Lonely Planet.
Carosello 3000 for advanced riders
While most of Carosello 3000 trails are intended for more beginners or touring bikers, there are also options for the advanced ones. First of all, the long Flowy trails here can be a great warm-up for your first day of riding in the area. H-Dream, Riders United, Blueberry or Roller Coaster trails are not difficult, but when you go with higher speed, you can have some fun on them also. After the warm-up, you can also go on two trails designed for advanced riders: The Bomb and Enduro. The first one is a truly technical, natural singletrail full of rocks, tight turns and few really difficult sections. The second trail called Enduro was our favorite in the whole bike park. It perfectly combines the natural rocky terrain with flow elements. Steep rocky parts combined with nicely profiled berms gave us a lot of fun!
Bike trips from Livigno
When spending a few days in Livigno, it is also worth taking a bike trip outside the areas supported by lifts. Descending from Carosello into the Federia Valley on a Tutti Frutti tour can be a great warm-up for journey further into mountains. A similarly simple and very nice option can be also the trail from the top station of the Mottolino Bike Park, marked as e-bike and leading towards Val Mine. There, a very scenic traverse leads to a beautifully situated mountain chalet. There starts great natural singletrail that is winding by the river. This year we decided to do another longer trip through two mountain passes, this time without the help of lifts.
Livigno – Passo di Alpisella – Lago di Cancano
We start our trip in Livigno. Heading down the valley along bicycle paths, we quickly reach Lake Livigno. On its eastern side, opposite the main road, there is an official walking and biking route towards Lake Cancano. Just follow the main path to go straight to the Alpisella valley. The climb is quite steep at times, but for people with a good shape or e-bike, it is easy to do the whole thing, without getting off the bike. It was pretty exhausting, but the views of the beautiful alpine valley improved our moods. We took a short regeneration stop at the Alpisella Pass. Then we headed downhill towards Lake Cancano. An important tip here is that after the first few hundred meeters, thru mostly flat terrain, you can turn off the main gravel road for a more interesting and flowy singletrail. This one took us straight to San Giacomo Lake. The reservoir in the Fraele valley is divided by a huge dam and beyond it begins Lake Cancano. So we decided to go around the first lake and do a longer break at the Val Fraele Refuge.
Lago di Cancano – Passo Trela – Livigno
After some food and drink stop at the shelter, we went through the dam. It offers spectacular views of two lakes and mountains around them. Then we headed back towards Livigno, but this time we wanted to cross the Trela pass. From the shore of Lake San Giacomo, we climbed to the Malga Trela shelter. The exit from the valley leads along a gravel road, which has few steeper parts of climb. Here again, stronger bikers, or those with e-bike support, will easily do the whole uphill in the saddle. The Malga Trela refuge is situated on a plateau between impresive peaks. From there, it already leads an excellent singletrail towards the Trela Pass. The path is smoothened for biking, but it is definitely not boring. Pretty easy uphill in a wild alpine valley, in the company of marmots is a great experience. For dessert, there is a descent from the mountain pass Trela back to Lake Livigno. The path, just like the one leading up, is very smooth. There are no steep parts or challenging terrain here, but the flow is awesome. Even when we rode this trail for the first time, we can easily wemt with higher speed. After reaching the area of Trepalle, we decided to cross the river and climb a little more to the traversing path above the Tort valley. The interval path at this side of river has a few slightly steeper and bit more demanding sections, but the end of the descent to Lake Livigno was again a fast and flowy one.
Alpisella – Cancano – Trela trip
To sum up, we started this day with the descent to the Federia valley. Then we did this loop to Lake Cancano and back to Livigno. In total, we covered almost 48 km of the distance and about 1880 meters of elevation. On enduro bikes intended more for downhill rather than climbs, it resulted in a full-day trip. It was an interesting break from bikepark laps. We managed to see something new in the area and spend a great day in the mountains on bikes. This trip does not offer many difficult or technical elements. However, if you are looking for that Alpine Flow, then you must go to Paso Trela. With E-bikes, or better climbing abilities, you can easily expand this trip with a round around Lake Cancano, or other neighboring passes. All of those trails can be done in two ways. But if You want to go similar trip to ours then it is worth using the directions that we have chosen. So to do uphill through Alpisella and later downhill through Trela. Then you will have the most interesting downhill sections.
Livigno bike trips
The options to catch the alpine flow described above are, of course, not the only ones. The area offers plenty of other interesting options on both the Italian and Swiss side of the border. Maps and clear route markers are available pretty much everywhere. You can also easily rent a good e-bike in the city. However, if you are afraid to move further on your own, or you want to see as many of the best trails as possible, you can go also on an organized trip. The Bike Livigno team, with whom we had the opportunity to ride for a while, is always ready to take You into the mountains. We know that they professionall approach and expert local guides. They know these areas very well and can advise and organize practically any type of bike trip, from a relaxed XC ride, through guided tours of the best singletrails, even to a wild, several days long, mountain ride. They can also provide a shuttle bus asisted tours. In the next article you will find our full-day trip to Bormio, where way more ambitious descents awaited us. To sum up, having a few days in Livigno at your disposal, it is really worth going beyond the official bike park trails to simply see more of the beatifull surroundings. Even high, in these wilder corners of the Italian Alps, you can find really great trails.
About Livigno region
Official website: livigno.eu
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Bike Parks: Carosello 3000, Sitas, Mottolino Fun Mountain