Monte Bolettone
Description
The tour starts in the center of Como. If you want to save yourself the first 500 meters in altitude, you can take the funicular to Brunate - the rest can tackle the ascent under their own steam. To do this, take the mountain road via Garzola to Brunate. You pass the top station of the funicular and continue along the little road to the parking lot at San Maurizio. Now it gets rougher: a gravel or cobblestone road leads on to the Capanna San Pietro. Now the singletrail fun begins. On the northern side of the mountain, you ride around Monte Bolettone on a trail and then climb from the Bocchetta di Lemna to the summit from the east. The bike has to be pushed a few meters here, but the summit offers a wonderful view of the Po Valley, Mendrisiotto and Lake Como. The descent is no less fantastic: a first-class trail leads through the meadowy terrain, narrow but smooth to ride. At the Bocchetta di Molina, you meet up with the ascent route, but then keep left and head into the forest on an old cart track. Stay on this path for a while until a trail branches off to the left at Roccolo (a detached house on a mountain ridge). This is the basis for the upcoming world-class descent that local mountain bikers have created in the forest. Pure riding fun all the way to Tavernerio! From the village, you initially follow an old connecting path, then the little road back to the center of Como.
Map & GPX-Track
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Details of the tour
34 km
1255 m
1255 m
1 day
Como
Como
1616
well suited
More information
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User comments (9)
About the author: Thomas Giger
Note: This content has been automatically translated from German. Please report any incorrect translations.
Due to the comments, I only rode as far as Bochetta di Molino and then down. Typical problem in fall/winter, of course, the many leaves, but I still liked the descent...
I rode this tour again on 11.10.24 after five years. Train to Brunate totally full, but it still went somehow. The road/trail up to the ascent to Monte Bollettone was nice to ride. Ascent then difficult and steep, not rideable. The trail is extremely washed out, stony and narrow in places. Descent from the summit initially through pastureland, meter-high grass, narrow trail, not entirely safe to hang on to with the pedals. The descent through the forest is mostly in poor condition. The heavy thunderstorms and storms of recent years have practically destroyed the trail and nobody cares, what a shame. Conclusion: beautiful views of Milan and the Swiss Alps, but I wouldn't do the tour again.
Ridden on 2.2.2023. A mixture of ice and mud at the top. Has an alternative line to the washed out part. The connection to the lower trail is mostly on gravel, which is a shame but what comes afterwards is great fun. Technical sections with flow in between.
I rode the tour last time in fall 2021. I found the ascent to the summit very arduous, with hardly any space to carry the bike. As already mentioned, the world-class descent was also washed out or so overgrown in places that you can no longer really call it a trail. My recommendation. Shorten the tour at Bochetta di Molino. This eliminates the ascent and arduous part of the trail. The area also has some mountain bike trails through the forest. Depending on your condition, the shortcut allows you to do this ascent twice and enjoy different descents, or use the train.
We rode the tour today - in great spring weather in February.
The GPS track didn't show us the world-class descent, but led us along a wider path to the tarred road.
We only noticed this at the end.
The sections criticized here are all easily rideable for experienced enduro bikers.
It may be that the trails have been improved in the meantime. I would definitely describe myself as an experienced enduro rider. My stamina is a bit lacking, so it's possible that the steep climb described above is a bit more rideable for others than it is for me. But the washed-out trails were (perhaps still are) not rideable. They were so deep that the pedals were hitting both sides, so they weren't rideable. The world-class trail was overgrown at the time and no longer existed. So as I said, something may have changed in recent years, but in 2019 the tour was nothing but a big disappointment.
Monte Bolettone:
I rode the tour on August 20, 2019.
As rain was forecast for the whole of Switzerland, I decided to do this tour. And the good news was that I stayed dry.
The climb was very rideable. From Cap San Pietro it was a very nice trail, sometimes up, sometimes down. At the easternmost point, the ascent to the summit follows, as described, not all of it rideable. I couldn't judge the view due to the weather. Unfortunately, the first part was no fun. In places, the trail was washed out to a depth of several meters, in others it was overgrown with meter-high grass. There were also few highlights in the forest, sometimes a wide trail, then washed out again, then overgrown.
Conclusion: an okay tour with no repeat factor.
I ride a Scott Spark 900RC and am usually in the head group on the uphill; downhill I'm always last, by a long way.
We rode the tour last weekend. But I wouldn't recommend it at all.
Positive: The funicular to Brunate rides practically all year round from early in the morning until late in the evening. The ride including bike is very cheap at 6 euros. The ascent to Capanna San Pietro is pleasant. The single trail that now leads along the northern side of the mountain is beautiful and fun to ride. All good up to here.
Negatives: The ascent from the Bocchetta di Lemna to the summit is extremely arduous. Ride writes here that the bike has to be carried a few meters... If you're not Nino Schurter, you ride practically nothing here. You push the bike almost the whole way up. The first part of the descent still goes reasonably well, but I've never experienced anything like what follows. The trail is heavily washed out in places. If you didn't put your pedals on straight away, you'd probably get your elbows stuck.
The cart path up to Roccolo has very few parts that are reasonably nice to ride. The rest is full of boulders, branches and dirt. The advertised, upcoming world-class descent is no longer there at all. Washed out, brake holes, full of branches, and in some places you really had to search for where to go next. But worst of all were the e-bikers and hikers. The e-bikers came from all directions and we had to jump to the side a few times to avoid being ridden over. The hikers blocked our way, and despite stopping and greeting them in a friendly manner, we almost only got angry and nasty looks. Fortunately, the e-bikers and hikers were only to be found on the first part of the tour (up to Capanna San Pietro).
The best thing about the day was the weather and the scenery. And a nice trail after all.
A great tour with a perfect mix of flowing and tricky trails up and down. The 6euros for the cable car are well invested, as you save yourself a bit of ascent via the road