Val Grande National Park

The Val Grande National Park is a national park in Italy in the northern part of Piedmont near the border with Switzerland, in the province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola. The park protects 170.00 square kilometres (65.6 sq mi; 42,007.9 acres) of what is considered the largest wilderness area in the Alps.

Val Grande National Park
Parco Nazionale della Val Grande
IUCN Category II (National Park)
Alpe Scaredi
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Location	Italy, (Piedmont)
Nearest city	Verbania
Area	17,000 ha (42,000 acres)

There are a limited number of trails within the park, most of which are difficult and dangerous, and not all of them are clearly marked. It is easy to get lost, and there is no mobile phone coverage within the park. Visitors should take great care not to leave the few marked trails. It is better to visit the park with an expert local mountain guide.

Geography

The park is in the mountain range of the Lepontine Alps around 100 km north of Milan. It is bordered by the Vigezzo Valley to the north, the Ossola Valley to the east, and Lake Maggiore to the south.

The main valley in the park is called Val Grande; the other valley is called Val Pogallo. Both valleys are crossed by rivers. The Val Grande and Pogallo rivers join to form the San Bernardino River. The two valleys are very narrow and surrounded by steep mountains. The highest peak of the park is Monte Togano 2,301 metres (7,549.2 ft), other peaks in the park are Pizzo Mottàc, Pizzo Proman and Cima di Laurasca. The whole area of the park is difficult to access.

There are many springs and streams within the park. The climate is mountainous with harsh winters and cool summers. Rainfall is normally above 2,000 millimetres (78.7 in) per year, mainly in spring and autumn.

Geology

The mountains in the park consist mainly of metamorphic rock, and the park contains the largest outcrop in the Alps, making it very interesting from a geological point of view. The mountains are very dark because they are made up of dark rocks such as amphibolite, serpentinite and peridotite, all of which are very hard and resistant to erosion.

The area

A stone with cup marks

One of the bivouacs

A number of rock engravings were found in the park starting from 1985. The most common are cup marks, but there are also engravings in the form of trees or humans. All of these date back to prehistoric times. One of these engravings, which resembles a tree, was used to create the park's logo.

The area has been permanently inhabited since the fourteenth century. There has been some agricultural activity and shepherding, but the main activity has been the harvesting of timber. Over the centuries, this has almost led to the deforestation of parts of the valleys. Traces of this past activity can still be seen today. When cutting the wood became too difficult, people left the area, allowing nature to reclaim it. Abandoned pastures have become forests.

The park

The park was established in 1992 on the territory of the municipalities of Beura-Cardezza, Caprezzo, Cossogno, Cursolo-Orasso, Intragna, Malesco, Miazzina, Premosello-Chiovenda, San Bernardino Verbano, Santa Maria Maggiore, Trontano. The Park management authority (Ente Parco Nazionale della Val Grande) was established in 1993. In 1995 the park was expanded, the municipalities of Aurano and Vogogna requested to include part of their territory in the park area. Except for three small hamlets (Genestredo, in the municipality of Vogogna; Colloro, in Premosello Chiovenda; and Cicogna, in Cossogno), the populated areas of all these municipalities are outside the area of the park.

There are two strict nature reserves within the park, the Riserva naturale Val Grande (973 hectares (3.8 sq mi; 2,404.3 acres)) and Riserva naturale Monte Mottac (2,410 hectares (9.3 sq mi; 5,955.2 acres)), both were established in 1971, before the national park was created.

In 2013 the National park was included in the UNESCO Sesia-Valgrande Geopark. In 2018 the park was included in the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Ticino Val Grande Verbano together with other parks in Piedmont and Lombardy.

Flora

On the lower slopes of the valleys the most widespread trees are chestnut trees, in the higher parts of the park beech is prevailing. There used to be more larches but they were cut in the past centuries. In the more inaccessible gorges near the rivers there are European yews, alders, lime trees and maples.

In the higher areas of the park there are mainly shrubs, ferns and mosses. On the sunny slopes there are rhododendron and blueberry. On the rocky areas there are rare species like the Alpine columbine, the mountain arnica, the great yellow gentian and the perforate bellflower.

Fauna

The national park also includes a Natura 2000 habitat protection site. The protected habitats are mainly forests and rocky areas.

Birds identified in the park include the golden eagle, peregrine falcon, black grouse, hazel grouse and Eurasian eagle-owl. There are also various species of woodpecker, including the black woodpecker. The Passeriformes include the Western Bonelli's warbler and the red-backed shrike.

The park is home to a population of rupicapra and roe deer. Carnivores include foxes, beech martens, martens, badgers and weasels. Smaller mammals such as dormice and wild mice live in the woods. In recent years, wolves have made a comeback.

The numerous streams and rivers are home to river trout and European bullheads, which feed on macroinvertebrates such as ephemeroptera and trichoptera larvae. The park is also home to some rare species of insects, such as the endemic Carabus lepontinus. The Rosalia alpina, Osmoderna eremita and Gnorimus variabilis beetles are also found here.

The viper is one of the most feared animals and Val Grande is known for having a lot of them.

Infrastructure

The park has three visitors centres and museum. There are some unattended bivouacs within the park which are always open and are equipped with a wood stove. These can be used as emergency shelters.

Val Grande National Park Media

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  Val Grande and Lake Maggiore seen from Bocchetta di Scaredi

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  Val Grande, Pizzo Proman (the taller mountain on the right), Cicogna (the small village on the bottom-right corner) and Monte Rosa (left, covered by clouds), seen from Pizzo Pernice

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  Val Pogallo, Cicogna, Cima Pedum and Cima della Laurasca, seen from Pizzo Pernice

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  Val Pogallo, Cicogna and Monte Zeda (center), seen from the road to Ompio

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  Corni di Nibbio and Monte Rosa, seen from Cima Sasso (1916m)

Sources

• Hankox, Mark (March 1, 2000). National Parks Europe. The ENDAT Group Ltd. ISBN 978-0953611119. Retrieved 2025-08-09.

• Jepson, Tim (September 30, 2004). Wild Italy : a traveller's guide. Interlink Books. ISBN 978-1566563642. Retrieved 2025-08-09.

• (1987) "The Val Grande - A Wilderness Area" in 4th World Wilderness Congress. . 

• Zanolin, Giacomo; Paül, Valerià (2022). "Exploring the Sustainability of Wilderness Narratives in Europe. Reflections from Val Grande National Park (Italy)". Geographical Review. 112 (3): 444–465. doi:10.1080/00167428.2020.1869905. Retrieved 2025-08-09.

Other websites

Media related to Parco nazionale della Val Grande at Wikimedia Commons