The routes

Taking as a starting point, the highest point, there are many ways to go to the 2,300 meters of the San Giacomo pass:
Toward the north you will find the Swiss Val Bedretto which, with the descent of the Valle Leventina, will take you to Bellinzona, the Piano di Magadino, Locarno and Verbano. To the south, here is the Formazza, the Antigorio, the Ossola, the lake of Mergozzo, the cane thicket of Fondotoce and the noble view of the Borromeo Gulf. If, on the other hand, you are in Verbania, on the shores of the lake, the cycle path, which has just been completed, crosses the special nature reserve of Fondotoce.
Here, among the thousand possibilities, you can find yourself in the middle of one of the largest reed beds in Verbano. A naturalistic paradise which, in every season, frames the view of the Borromean Gulf and the mountains of Val Grande National Park. If you then turn your gaze to the background, you can see the perennial snows of the Pennines that reach 4,000 metres.
From the cane thicket, take the road that goes up, in Antigorio Valley, where the spectacle of the ravines of Uriezzo will leave you amazed. They are canyons that project the visitor into a primordial environment: smooth rocks in tortuous paths, pools of clear water, alternating with rapids and waterfalls. A unique emotion, reachable from Verampli di Crodo, Baceno or Premia.
Another adventurous route is towards Toce waterfalls. In Val Formazza, its 143-meters drop caused the amazement of writers, artists and nobles between the 19th and 20th centuries, earning it the nickname of “the most beautiful and powerful waterfall in the Alps”. In the summer months, when the inflow of water is at its maximum, its 60-meters front creates a wall of water. Reaching its 1,675 meters of altitude, looking out from the overhanging observation point, in a cloud of steam amidst the roar and swirl of the waters, is one of the things to do at least once in a lifetime in the Lake District.