The best dog-friendly hikes and walks around Lai da Sontga Maria

A well-maintained white church sits on the edge of the reservoir. You can sit on a bench sheltered from the wind and look out over the Lukmanier Pass.

Scenic pass that is opened all year round (closes at 6pm in winter). There is hardly any traffic which makes cycling very nice and plenty of opportunities to take pictures. We crossed the pass in early May when there was still plenty of snow up there. The change in scenery where it was all green at Disentis and slowly turning white as we climbed higher... and very quickly turned to green as we rolled down on the south side to Biasca was breathtaking.

The Lucomagno is one of the most famous Alpine passes in Switzerland. It is located between the cantons of Ticino and Grisons, at an altitude of 1,926 meters. The name seems to derive from the Latin "locus magnus", meaning "large, open place". It is often tackled in the professional race of the Tour of Switzerland.

The black rocks are really wonderful to look at. Was one of the highlights of my tour.

Lukmanier Pass When the Disentis monastery was founded around 720, the Lukmanier Pass, which could be crossed without great difficulty and was also considerably lower than the other passes in the Alps, became very important. During the Staufer period, it was considered the most important north-south connection to Italy. However, it quickly lost this role to the Gotthard and Splügen passes. In 1374, the Disentis monastery built the "Hospezi S. Maria" with a chapel on the top of the pass. Both had to make way for the construction of the reservoir in 1964. The new hospice at the current location was inaugurated on August 1, 1965 and the chapel in 1967. The Lukmanier Pass played an important role in the choice of the route of an Alpine railway at times, because the planners assumed that it would be possible to build it without an expensive summit tunnel. In 1869, however, the decision was made in favor of the Gotthard railway. Between 1872 and 1877, a modern road was built over the Lukmanier. With the construction of the "Lai da Sontga Maria" reservoir in the 1960s, the road on the Graubünden side had to be relocated to a gallery. The importance of a supra-regional transport axis ended with the opening of the motorway tunnel through the Gotthard. Tourism in the Surselva began to suffer greatly as a result, especially as the pass was closed during the winter from 1980 onwards. On the initiative of the municipality of Disentis and the Surselva mountain railways in particular, the "Pro Lucmagn" association was founded, which has been responsible for ensuring that the Lukmanier pass remains open for as long as possible in winter since 2005. The canton, district, municipalities and tourism in both Graubünden and Ticino provide the finances. The five-year trial phase was positive. This project has been secured for the long term since 2011. Clearly to the benefit of tourism in the Surselva as well as in the Blenio Valley. Text / Source: Interest Group for Alpine Passes IAP, PO Box 11, 6491 Realp https://www.alpen-paesse.ch/de/alpenpaesse/lukmanierpass/

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The Lukmanier Pass is located at almost 2,000 m above sea level between the Swiss cantons of Ticino and Grisons. It can be reached by crossing the Blenio valley which is the sunniest of the Swiss ones, therefore called "Valle del Sole".

Here you run on a narrow path that crosses soft green meadows and fragile sharp rocks.