The best MTB trails around Splügen

An intact village center and a turbulent history.

Splügen

Hotel Bodenhaus, Splügen in the Rheinwald The Bodenhaus has been the solitaire of Splügen since it was built in 1722. The building originally served as a storage room for transported goods, contained the post office and offered accommodation and food for travelers. In 1822 the Bodenhaus was converted into a comfortable hotel. The guest books contain famous names such as: Albert Einstein, Friedrich Nietzsche, Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, William Turner, Napoleon III and Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian of Austria. Text / Source: Hôtel Bodenhaus, Splügen https://www.hotel-bodenhaus.ch/entdecken#:~:text=Das%20Bodenhaus%20ist%20seit%20seiner,zu%20einem%20komfortablen%20Hotel%20umgebaut.

Nice dirt road variant to reach Seebärga.

Easily accessible along a dirt road. Impressive view of Pizzo Tambo.

Steep but without difficulty. Here in winter the ski slope descends.

Montespluga SO The mountain village of Montespluga is located at an altitude of 1908 m above sea level at the beginning of the Val San Giacomo (also called Valle Spluga), about three kilometers from the summit of the Splügen Pass. The place originated in a hollow rich in water and pastures, where the Valle Spluga meets the Val Loga, near the border peaks of the area such as Pizzo Tambo. In 1927, the construction of the dam about 2 kilometers south of Montespluga began, damming the Torrente Liro to form the Lago di Montespluga below the village. The village with its few houses, restaurants, hotels, and shops on the pass road and the old customs building "La Casa" has hardly changed. Until 1841, it housed the only hospice on the Splügen Pass and the only place of worship, the chapel of San Francesco d’Assisi. The latter was consecrated in 1832, the year after the completion of the new road to the Splügen Pass in 1822. As early as 1767, the apostolic nuncio in Switzerland and later Cardinal Luigi Valenti Gonzaga had granted permission to set up a small chapel in the hospice. Since the opening of the San Bernardino Tunnel, the pass has no longer been kept open in winter. The village, which consists of three streets (Via Dogana, Via Ferrè, and Via Val Loga), can be cut off from both Italy and Switzerland. Montespluga is the starting point for numerous hiking, mountaineering, and ski touring destinations in the surrounding mountains and a stage destination on the cross-border long-distance hiking trail Via Spluga. Text / Source: wikipedia.org https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montespluga

Splügen Pass / Passo dello Spluga The Splügen Pass has been proven to have been used since prehistoric times. There are also references to this in Roman times, e.g. the Itinerarium Antonini, a Roman road map from around 300 AD. The very close connections between the bishoprics of Chur and Como ran over the Splügen Pass. As early as 1396, there was evidence of significant customs revenues at Splügen. The expansion of the Viamala Gorge promoted its boom. The movement of goods was carried almost exclusively by packhorses, which meant frequent reloading. Transit traffic formed an important part of the flourishing economy. As late as 1798, the Austrian Field Marshal von Bellegarde wrote: "The largest train of goods from Milan to Germany goes over this pass, but mostly on horses and mules." Between 1818 and 1823, the first road that was passable for freight wagons and stagecoaches was built at the same time as the San Bernardino, and to a large extent it still follows the same route as it was then. After that, freight volumes and international passenger traffic over the Splügen increased several times over and reached their peak in the mid-1850s. The opening of the Alpine railways (1867 Brenner, 1872 Mont Cenis) had already reduced transit traffic over the Splügen. The opening of the Gotthard Railway in 1882 brought Graubünden transit traffic to a virtual standstill. A large wave of emigration was a direct result. The decades-long efforts to build a Splügen railway ultimately failed. The construction of the national road with a car tunnel at the San Bernardino opened up new perspectives. The Splügen Pass has been closed in winter since World War II. Text / Source: Interest Group for Alpine Passes IAP, PO Box 11, 6491 Realp https://www.alpen-paesse.ch/de/alpenpaesse/spluegenpass/