Hike Sonvico - Monte Roveraccio

This is a "city walk" of an unusual kind: in the background of Lugano lies the Val Colla. At its lower end, the village of Sonvico nestles on the sunny slopes of Monte Roveraccio. This circular hike leads to the panoramic summit. 0.9 km of the route in the Madonna d'Arla/Fié area are on asphalt surface; otherwise, outside inhabited areas, there are practically only nature trails.

Since the latest municipal merger in 2013, the hilly, even mountainous areas of Sonvico and Val Colla have become a district of the city of Lugano. Anyone roaming this area is thus ultimately taking a city walk. However, it is not possible to master it with flip-flops or trainers - you will need proper hiking boots with a good grip sole for this route, as it has some considerable gradients and runs at least partially on forest paths that can become slippery in wet weather.
The starting point is the Opera Charitas bus station below the old village centre of Sonvico. With a few dozen steps, you will walk up to the church and to the upper edge of the village. There, follow the main road that runs up the slope for almost three quarters of a kilometre. Then the path branches off, goes down gently to a stream and crosses it at the hamlet of Pönt.
On a small gravel road, later on forest paths, the trail climbs constantly, mostly through forest, and in between also over pasture land to Petrolzo. There are two variants for the rounding of the Setalone hill: on the shady side, a forest path leads to the chapel Madonna d'Arla, on the sunny side, losing a relatively large amount of height, you can reach it on an asphalt road and later also through the forest.
A small road leads gently uphill to Fié. On the way, opposite a beautiful old chestnut grove, lies the Pian Piret rest and playground. The view opens up visibly. Impressive are the crumbly rock pillars in the south-east, which bear the not very flattering but quite fitting name "Denti della Vecchia" (“teeth of the old”). In front of them, the first deep views of the lake basin of Lugano with the no less imposing Monte San Salvatore can be seen.
But the view becomes completely overwhelming on the wide summit of Monte Roveraccio. Across the bordering valleys of the Cassarate and Capriasca, you will see the hilly landscape of Malcantone and behind it the chain of peaks of Monte Ceneri, Monte Tamaro, and Monte Lema.
A winding gravel road leads through sparse birch woods to the hamlet of Costa. On a forest path that becomes increasingly steeper you will pass the church of San Martino and return to Sonvico.