Carasc and Tibetan Bridge

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Overview

  • Location: Monte Carasso, Ticino, Switzerland

  • Starting altitude: 600 m (Curzùtt, mid-station of the lift)

  • Distance: 5.4 km

  • Elevation gain/loss: 400 m

  • Duration: Under 2 hours

  • Difficulty: Easy to moderate; vertiginous bridge crossing

  • Highlights:

    • Traditional stone hamlet of Curzùtt

    • San Bernardo church with frescoes

    • 270-meter-long Tibetan suspension bridge (Ponte Tibetano)

I hesitated to put the "historical" tag on this hike since it follows old mule tracks. But let's start from the beginning.

The base for this hike is Monte Carasso, located in Ticino, the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland. Ticino always feels like a strange and fascinating place to me — very different from the rest of Switzerland in language, architecture, and culture, yet definitely not Italy either!

Monte Carasso is actually a neighborhood of Bellinzona (which is definitely worth visiting on its own for its castles). You’ll find a cable car station there, and we took it up to Curzùtt (600 m), the mid-station.



Curzùtt is a charming hamlet of old stone "Rustici", the traditional mountain houses of Ticino. From here, a wide path paved with large stones leads up toward the San Bernardo church, easily visible above the forest. Inside, you’ll discover beautiful frescoes that are well worth a stop.


Shortly after the church, the path narrows into a proper mountain trail, still well-marked, and continues through the forest for about 1.5 km until you reach the Ponte Tibetano.
This impressive suspension bridge is 270 meters long and sits 130 meters above the valley floor — I’ll admit it gave me a little vertigo!

Once across, the trail continues through the forest back to a parking area in Monte Carasso. From there, it’s a 10-minute walk along the road to get back to the base station of the lift. (Parking is limited at the lift itself, so starting from this lower parking lot can be a good idea.)

Overall:

  • The hike covers 5.4 kilometers with about 400 meters of elevation gain.

  • It can easily be completed in under 2 hours.

  • It's a great mix of history and vertiginous adrenaline!

If you want to extend the hike, you can skip the lift and climb on foot from Monte Carasso to Curzùtt, adding 360 meters of elevation and about 1 extra hour to the route.

Location: Monte Carasso, 6513 Bellinzona, Switzerland

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