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Ticinus River)
Val Bedretto. In the middle is Bedretto, further up, Ronco and almost hidden is All'Acqua. Nufenen Pass is at the head of the val. The large range in the background is the
Cristallina Massif.
The river Ticino (Western Lombard: Tisín; German: Tessin; Latin: Ticinus) is a left-bank tributary of the Po River. It rises in the Val Bedretto in Switzerland and flows through Lake Maggiore, entering Italy. The Ticino joins the Po a few kilometres downstream (along the Ticino) from Pavia. It is about 248 kilometres (154 mi) long. The highest point of the drainage basin is the summit of Grenzgipfel (a subpeak of Monte Rosa), at 4,618 metres (15,150 ft). Beneath it flows the Anza (river), a right-bank tributary of the Ticino.
The river is dammed in Switzerland in order to create hydroelectricity, while in Italy it is primarily used for irrigation.
[edit] Towns and tributaries along the Ticino
[edit] Val Bedretto
Val Bedretto, a narrow alpine valley named after the village of Bedretto, culminates in Nufenen Pass, Italian Passo della Novena, at 2,478 m (8,130 ft) located between Pizzo Gallina and Nufenstock. Through it runs the border between the cantons of Valais and Ticino. A road constructed in 1964 goes over the pass ultimately leading to the Rhone river valley on the other side. French is mainly spoken in Valais but near the pass German is spoken. The population of Ticino speaks Italian.
The road up the val is fairly straight until it approaches the pass, where it becomes hairpin. On the slope below the first hairpin at about 2,200 m (7,200 ft) is an area of springs from which the Ticino river originates. Subsequently it becomes a mountain brook flowing straight down the val to the village of All'Acqua or All'Acqua Ospizio at 1,614 m (5,300 ft), named for the hospice for travellers located there at the previous end of the road in former centuries. Currently it is a base for skiing and hiking. Below it is Ronco at 1,487 m (4,880 ft) and Bedretto at 1,402 m (4,600 ft).[1] The val is subject to avalanches and snow can remain on the ground as late as September.
Below Bedretto the Ri di Cristallina, "Cristallina stream", comes in from the right at Ossasco, and further down Fontana, still in Bedretto. The entire area is laced with hiking trails and mountain huts.
[edit] Valle Leventina
[edit] References
- ^ Reynolds, Kev (1992). "Val Bedretto". Walking in Ticino, Switzerland: A Walking Guide (illustrated ed.). Milnthorpe: Cicerone Press Limited. pp. 32-43. ISBN 1852840986, 9781852840983.
Coordinates: 45°09′N 9°14′E / 45.15°N 9.233°E / 45.15; 9.233
