San Bernardino, in the Municipality of Mesocco, Grisons (Switzerland), is a small mountain village, easily reachable from Italy, which offers the possibility of spending a beautiful cross-country skiing day, on pleasant and slightly technical tracks. In this article, we provide you with a lot of useful information, in case you want to practice Nordic skiing in this location.

Cross-country skiing: San Bernardino, Grisons, Switzerland

San Bernardino is located in Val Mesolcina (see map below), just before the highway tunnel that leads to the Rhine Valley (coming from the South), and under the San Bernardino Pass. From Italy, it can be reached by taking the A2 highway in Switzerland up to Bellinzona. After Bellinzona, follow the signs for San Bernardino, and turn at the fork that leads to the A13 highway. Just before the San Bernardino Tunnel, coming from Italy, take the exit for San Bernardino, and shortly after you enter the town. After exiting the highway, follow the signs for "Ostello - Centro Sci Nordico", and park in the large dirt lot paid parking (1 CHF per hour), right in front of the Hostel.

If you need to change your clothes in a warm room, the Nordic Ski Center (go down the stairs to the right, after the entrance from the Hostel glass door) offers heated changing rooms (with safes/lockers), with bathrooms, and also showers. The cross-country ski trail starts immediately on the south side of the parking lot (see map). If you need to rent, right at the entrance to the parking lot, and near the ski school, you have "Marino Sport" (skating skis for the whole day for 30 CHF, in 2020).

You can buy the day ticket for the cross-country ski trail (10 CHF, in January 2024), directly at the parking meter (also with a credit card), or at the ticket office (wooden kiosk), at the beginning of the trail.

On the south side of the parking lot, where the trail begins, put on your skis, and at the first curve to the left, cross a bridge, immediately after which you will find the ticket kiosk (see map in the article). If you continue without crossing the bridge, the track takes you to the village along the river, where there are some flat sections, good for those who want to practice. In fact, this is the final part of the track from which you will return, considering that most skiers do the route in a counterclockwise direction.

If you have turned towards the bridge, after passing the ticket office, you will begin a very beautiful part of the trail in the woods, suitable for both the classic technique and for skating. The trail is characterized by a series of ups and downs, never extreme, it is mainly in the shade, but with some sections exposed to the sun, where you can stop and warm up if necessary. In this part of the track, you can also take the turn to ski along the Fracc trail (see map).

After a few km, the track arrives near the Lago d'Isola Dam, on which it descends with a sharp bend to the left. Pass over the dam to take you to the other side of the mountain slope of the valley (see the trail map below, and above).

The route here becomes more open and sunny. First it heads south, then back north, and after reaching an easy pass, it leads you to a crossroads where you have several possible alternative tracks to continue on. Turning left, either at a steep descent, or at the crossroads a little further on, you have the option of continuing north, along the Fornas track, to return to the village (with a possible short loop, before returning to San Bernardino). Instead, following the signs for the Pian Doss track or the Lido track, you can continue south, making a more or less wide loop around Lago Doss (also beautiful in summer). We continued, choosing this second option. The track continues with some ups and downs, part in the woods, part well exposed to the sun, with some significant climbs and descents, generally short, sometimes even with sharp curves (be careful when going downhill, and always keep to the right). After about an hour from your departure, you will arrive at the point of the track that reaches the Hotel Ristorante Lido on Lake Doss.

Lake Doss is a great sunny spot, very wide, ideal for a break (even if, in the case of returning to San Bernardino, you are already more than halfway along the route). Here you also have, if you want, a refreshment point (Ristorante Hotel Lido), also reachable by car (see map).

To go back, you can follow again the track from which you came (Pista Lido), for a short stretch, until you connect with the Pista Pian del Doss, approximately to the southwest of the lake. Without any particular deviations, in about 30 minutes you will return to the village, with an easy route, mainly slightly downhill.

We would like to point out, however, that beyond the main route described here, there are several interesting variants, more or less technical. In particular, shortly after the start of the route, you can take the Fracc and Fracc-Diga track, where you will have some more challenging climbs and descents; or, at the intersection described above, you can deviate onto the Pian Doss 5 track, first heading North and then South (clockwise tour). Finally, further ahead, you can follow the signs for the Forcola slope (no. 7), which is more technical (see track map).

Once back in the village, if you want, or you are with your family, you can take a walk in the historic center (which is small, but quite pleasant), and get something from the bars and pastry shops along the main road.

For information on the state of the tracks, or other information on San Bernardino, you can consult the following useful sites:

https://it.bergfex.com/graubuenden/langlaufen/san-bernardino/

https://moesano.graubuenden.ch/it/sci-di-fondo

https://snow.myswitzerland.com/bolletino_delle_nevi/sci_fondo/sanbernardino/

Enjoy your ski ride. Fabio Muriano

Click here, for a nice slidegallery of a cross country skiing day at San Bernardino.