Malinvern Refuge and Lake Malinvern
After a long tract along the bottom of the Vallone di Riofreddo, among the evergreens, the path leads upward through open ground to the broad basin filled by Lake Malinvern's intensely blue waters.
Description
From the parking lot in Vallone di Riofreddo, 1518 m asl, follow the unpaved road south. The road is initially unpaved, then alternates between paved and unpaved and finally becomes mostly asphalted or in cement.
Continuing on without taking any of the trails on either side of the road, one comes directly to the Malinvern Città di Ceva Refuge, better known as Rifugio Malinvern (1839 m, 1 hour and 15 minutes from Vallone di Riofreddo, 1518 m).
Backtracking a few meters, take the trail (on the left) downhill to the south, passing over the Rio Freddo on a small bridge. On the opposite slope, the path heads north, climbing steadily. Passing by a fork to the left, the climb continues with a couple of long midslope tracts and a series of elbow turns through a sparse patch of larches, along the foot of a rock face.
On reaching the ridge over Lake Malinvern, do not take the small path that goes up to the Laghi della Paur; shortly afterward, the path you are on turns right (southwest) and leads down to Lake Malinvern (2123 m, 1 hour and fifteen minutes from Malinvern Refuge).
- Departure : Vallone di Riofreddo (1518 m)
- Arrival : Lake Malinvern (2123 m)
- Towns crossed : Vinadio
Altimetric profile
Recommandations
Access and parking
From Borgo San Dalmazzo, drive up the Valle Stura past Vinadio, then turn left to Sant'Anna di Vinadio and, shortly thereafter, left again to Vallone di Riofreddo. Drive up the valley until you reach the limit beyond which no vehicles are allowed(parking lot).
Report a problem or an error
If you have found an error on this page or if you have noticed any problems during your hike, please report them to us here:
Close by1
- Mountain Hut
Mountain Hut
Rifugio Malinvern - Città di Ceva
The Malinvern refuge (1836 m) is located in the municipality of Vinadio (CN), in the Stura di Demonte valley in the Maritime Alps. Built in 1940 and destroyed by fire and vandalism following the Second World War in 1943, it was rebuilt in the current modern architecture only starting from the 1990s on the initiative of the CAI Section of Ceva which still manages it today.