Lake Branchino from Valcanale and Zorzone

You leave the car in the pay car parks near the small lake at Valcanale, at Babes; Luca Gherardi notes that early arrivals find a few spaces right at the start of the path. You set off by a wooden panel with a map and climb through the woods on a dirt and partly concrete track: after about 40 minutes a junction offers the direct path to the lake on the left and the Alpe Corte hut on the right, reached in a few minutes.

From the Alpe Corte, 1,410 metres, trail 218 crosses the stream and climbs the opposite side, follows a forest road to the junction with the 266 and the lower and middle Neel huts, at 1,565 and 1,614 metres, then climbs the Alpe Neel pastures to the Rifugio Lago Branchino and the lake, with the pass a little beyond. Gherardi allows 1 h 20 to the Alpe Corte and 2 h 30 to the lake.

For the return Gherardi suggests a loop: from the hut you descend to one of the junctions passed on the way up and turn right towards the GAN Nembro hut, on CAI trail 266, then descend along the old ski runs, among the ruins of the lifts, passing the abandoned Albergo Sempreneve, back to the car park.

Trail 231 starts from Zorzone, 1,019 metres, where the CAI recommends parking in via Giorgi, and follows a mule track across the hillside eastwards to the Val Vedra. It climbs the valley at a moderate gradient to Pian Bracca, 1,111 metres, now the most common starting point because it can be reached by car from Zorzone; keeping near the valley floor it passes the Baita Pessel, 1,209 metres, the pastures and the Casera di Vedro, 1,672 metres, then Passo di Val Vedra, 1,848 metres, and finally Passo Branchino.

For the CAI it is about 7.6 kilometres, 850 metres up and 50 down, 3 hours out and 2 h 10 back, grade E, south-facing, season April to October, with boots and high-mountain clothing. At Passo Branchino the 231 meets the 222 to the Capanna 2000, the 218 to the Alpe Corte and the 219 to the Baite di Mezzeno: for a long round you can return via the Capanna 2000 and descend to Plassa on the 221, arranging transport back to Zorzone.

The Province of Bergamo's study on the ecology of alpine lakes, produced in 2003 by its wildlife and environment service, has a page on Lake Branchino: a natural lake at the head of the Val Canale, oval in shape, with an area of 0.65 hectares, 130 metres long and 60 wide, at most 2 metres deep. On the right it is bordered by alders, elsewhere by alpine grassland; the catchment, 13.1 hectares, includes the pastures of the Alpe Nevel.

The analyses of 2 October 2001 recorded water at 9.4 degrees, moderately alkaline, with the highest phosphorus concentration of all the lakes examined and high alkalinity and conductivity, an effect of the limestone catchment. Its modest depth, the study concludes, makes it unsuitable for a stable population of salmonids; the common minnow may be present, though it was not observed during the survey.

The Rifugio Alpe Corte, 1,410 metres, belongs to CAI Bergamo: 24 beds and 80 seats inside, telephone 0346 35090 or 348 5253268, email alpecorte@caibergamo.it. The CAI's 2026 calendar gives weekend opening from 10 April, from 30 April to 3 May, every day from 29 May to 13 September and, from 1 October, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. It began in 1948 in a building of the De Angeli-Frua company rented by the section, was bought by the CAI in 1970 and since 2007 has been a barrier-free hut, accessible to people with disabilities.

The Rifugio Lago Branchino, at about 1,787 metres and a few metres from the lake, was built on the ruins of the Baita Neel Alta by the A.R.D.E.S. association; Wikipedia gives it 8 places. From the hut the lake is hidden by a knoll, while the view takes in the Valcanale and the Presolana. For the 2026 season its blog gave it as open on Saturdays and Sundays in September and October.

Lower down, the Baita Neel Bassa is lent to groups and families, with twelve beds according to Diska. On the Oltre il Colle side the reference point is the Capanna 2000, 1 h 30 from the pass on trail 222.

The Orobie Bergamasche Park calls the Butterfly Trail the combination of the approaches to Passo Branchino from Valcanale and from Mezzeno, suited to watching butterflies thanks to the meadows and pastures they cross; from the pass the Sentiero dei Fiori sets off towards the Bocchetta di Corna Piana and the Capanna 2000. With two cars you can plan traverses between the Seriana, Brembana and Serina valleys, for example from Zorzone to Passo Branchino and down to Valcanale.

From Roncobello trail 219, called the Butterfly Trail, climbs from the Baite di Mezzeno to the pass in 50 minutes and 240 metres; the CAI page notes that the Capovalle-Mezzeno municipal road is a toll road, with a daily rate of €3 in April 2025, and that the meter gives no change.

The CAI gives April to October for the 218 and 231 and May to October for the 220 and 219, always without snow. Those combining the lake with the Sentiero dei Fiori find the best flowering in July, according to the Park. In winter the lake freezes and snow ascents must be assessed against the avalanche bulletin: they are a different outing.