Wild camping in Bedretto

A valley of working alps, with more than one owner

Bedretto is the mountain commune, not just the village on the road. Ossasco, Villa, Bedretto and Ronco sit along the valley floor. Forest rises above them, then summer pasture, rocky basins and the passes towards the neighbouring valleys. For a night outside, the useful distinction is between a stop in that settled valley and a brief bivouac on open mountain ground. The latter has an express place in Ticino law.¹⁴

The Patriziato di Bedretto is a public corporation that owns and manages land alongside the political commune. Its regulation names four alp estates: Valleggia, with Folcra, Folcra di mezzo and Valpiana; Cioss Prato, with Cassina Baggio, Cruina and Corno; Cavanna, with C'assin di sterli, Viei and Al Mott; and Pesciora, with C'asina nova and i Piei. Its permission rules follow that property. They are not a map of every pasture in the commune.²

Manio, also called Manegorio, belongs to a different alp system. The canton lake booklet assigns it to the Patriziato di Sobrio; the Bedretto regulation draws a forest boundary up to the neighbouring Manegorio alp. That makes ownership a practical part of choosing your night. A Bedretto office can authorise its own ground, while the right contact for Manio is Sobrio.²⁶

The cantonal exception includes a small tent

Ticino's camping act has a general rule and a mountain exception. Art. 2 para. 1 of the Legge sui campeggi, RL 943.100, confines camping to authorised camping areas. The following paragraph expressly excepts pitching a tent for a mountain bivouac:¹

"Fa eccezione al principio di cui al cpv. 1 l'attendamento a scopo di bivacco in montagna."Legge sui campeggi, art. 2 cpv. 2, RL 943.100.

Attendamento means pitching a tent. A lightweight tent for a mountain overnight stop can fall within the exception. The provision gives no numerical altitude, sunset hour or maximum party size. Plan one quiet night on open mountain ground, set up late and leave early. Those practical limits describe a bivouac rather than an extended base camp; they are not an extra statutory timetable.

Art. 3 includes temporary stays and overnight stays with movable installations such as tents, caravans and motorhomes in the meaning of camping. Art. 27 provides a municipal fine of CHF 50 to 10'000 for violations of the act. A road stop with a camper and an extended stay beside the village have a different purpose from a mountain bivouac. The exception does not turn a parking place into a campsite.¹

Bedretto's published municipal planning rules add protection for natural features rather than another express mountain-bivouac ban. Art. 24 protects watercourses, alpine lakes, wet habitats and other natural elements against damaging interventions. Dry grass matters here: a tent on a fen or on a soft shore can damage the very habitat the rule protects.⁵

The canton allowance is one part of the answer. It does not hand over someone else's land, lift a nature-protection condition or replace an owner's consent requirement. The relationship between these levels is explained in the Swiss wild-camping overview.

For Pesciora and the other Bedretto alps, get the office yes

Any temporary occupation of Bedretto patriziato ground needs authorisation. Art. 31 of the published patriziato regulation is broader than a rule about large camps:²

"Qualsiasi occupazione momentanea di terreno patriziale deve essere autorizzata dall'Ufficio patriziale. Ogni manomissione e occupazione abusiva del terreno patriziale sarà punita."Regolamento Patriziale di Bedretto, art. 31.

A planned night in a tent uses the land, and a bivvy bag laid on it does too. The mountain-bivouac exception in the cantonal act leaves this property condition in place. For Pesciora, Cavanna, Valleggia and Cioss Prato, ask the Ufficio patriziale before setting out. The person tending cattle can help with the practical choice of patch; the office is the authorising body named by the regulation.

Art. 32 adds a written group-camp procedure for Signoi and Chiavöt; those zones are not public pitches for passers-by. For an individual night, apply under art. 31 and let the office set the place and conditions. Art. 32 provides removal of unauthorised tents, campers and caravans, and art. 106 fines up to CHF 10'000. The office sets the per-person daily occupation fee; ask for its amount.²

If the office redirects you to the current alp operator, settle both the authorisation and where to lie down. If it declines or does not answer, reserve an indoor bed. Arriving after dark and hoping nobody objects leaves the only condition that decides the Pesciora night unresolved.

Manio: a dry bench above the forest

A mountain bivouac is possible on the Manio bench at about 2'076 m. The useful reference is 46.48031 / 8.44925, LV95 2'677'606 / 1'148'165. This is open grass on the bench above the forest, with scattered rocks and shrubs. The local ground is gentle enough for a small overnight shelter: the surrounding grass slopes by about 7 degrees. The dry surface, rather than the name label on the map, is what you are looking for.⁴

Choose firm grass away from the nearby channels and hollows. Check the actual surface on arrival: cattle, dung or rain can make a patch unsuitable. Stay on dry ground, keep clear of drainage vegetation and leave the pasture intact. Cutting turf or levelling the alp is no part of a bivouac.

Manio is outside the four alp estates named in the Bedretto patriziato regulation. The express Ticino exception is the public-law basis for a brief mountain night here. The canton booklet calls the alp Manegorio and assigns it to the Patriziato di Sobrio. For the current operator, grazing movements or the boundary of a particular patch, contact 091 873 52 25, conta@faido.ch. Its home address is Sobrio, but this alp lies in Bedretto.¹²⁶

The dedicated Manio guide covers this alp in more detail. Capanna Piansecco is a named bed option on the same northern side of the valley. Choose that bed when conditions turn the bench into a wet pasture, or when the night's weather calls for a roof.

Pesciora: dry ground west of Cascina dei Piani, with consent

Pesciora is a real mountain overnight option once the office agrees. The dry alpine reference lies at 46.51260 / 8.49434, LV95 2'681'020 / 1'151'800, about 2'102 m. It is roughly 220 m west-north-west of Cascina dei Piani, on open pasture above the forest. The nearby ground slopes gently, by about 6 degrees and dry grassy patches among scattered stones. This locates the area to discuss with the owner; the approved pitch is the one it assigns.⁴

Keep off the wet ground to the north-east. The aerial image shows darker wet vegetation and a small wet hollow beside the dry bench. A grass surface that is flat on a map can be a fen under your feet. Do not choose the wet hollow for its level ground, route through it to reach a tent site or wash equipment in the drainage. Bedretto's art. 24 protection for wet habitats applies alongside the ownership condition.⁴⁵

Pesciora appears by name in art. 9 of the Bedretto patriziato regulation, with C'asina nova and i Piei. Its art. 31 authorisation requirement is therefore directly relevant to this alp. Mention both the reference and the nearby wet area in your request, and ask which dry patch is compatible with grazing. A yes for one party, one date and one assigned patch is the permission you act on; another group's visit does not answer your request.²

Put up only the shelter you described, leave at the agreed time and carry out everything you brought. The working alp and the wet margin need to remain usable the next morning. If the office wants the pasture kept free, take the refusal as the answer and book a hut.

The village, the road and the forest are different nights

A tent stop beside the village or the Nufenen road is ordinary camping. The settled valley floor is a place of houses, hay meadows, roads and forest. The authorised-area rule in art. 2 para. 1 applies to ordinary camping; a mountain-bivouac plan belongs on mountain ground such as the benches above. A view of peaks from a car park does not change the use of that car park.¹⁴

Both dry alpine references are outside the federal protected-area overlays, including game reserves, wildlife rest zones, parks and mire inventories. Their parcels have no nature-decree or forest-reserve entry in the Ticino restrictions cadastre; municipal planning geometry is unavailable there. The military infrastructure plan does not overlap either point. Temporary firing instructions and closures can still affect an approach: follow signs and local instructions. An owner's consent does not overrule a closed route.⁴⁷

Piansecco and Corno Gries: reserve the fallback

Capanna Piansecco CAS, 1'988 m, is the close named bed option on the northern side. The SAC describes the marked normal approach from All'Acqua as T2, about 1 hour and 370 m of ascent. It stands at the last larches on the high route through the valley. Book with the hut on 091 869 12 14 or info@capannapiansecco.ch, and check which service is available for your date. A winter room and a staffed season have different arrangements.⁸

Capanna Corno Gries is the western alternative towards the Nufenen side. Its operator publishes a guarded summer season from the end of June to early October. Outside that season, its winter accommodation needs a reservation; plan an arranged bed rather than an assumed open door. Contact 091 869 11 29 or info@corno-gries.ch. Choose the hut that fits the actual walking route, with enough daylight and weather margin to reach it.⁸

General rules for wild camping

These ground rules apply on the dry alpine ground where your night is actually permitted. The patriziato reply and instructions on site come first; keep the footprint small and leave the pasture intact.

• No fire. An open fire has no place in the mountains. A gas stove is enough.
• Pitch late, strike early. Set up towards evening, gone again early. A bivouac is one night, not a base camp.
• Leave no rubbish. Everything you carry up you carry down, organic scraps and toilet paper included.
• At least 50 metres from any water for the big business, so you do not foul what people and livestock drink.
• Stay small and quiet. A small group, no speaker, no drone, dogs on the lead, and the alp staff's word goes.

Disclaimer

This article reflects my research and assessment to the best of my knowledge as of 5 October 2026. It uses the public official sources linked below, does not replace legal advice and is not a binding statement of the current legal situation.

The Bedretto patriziato regulation is the current version in the municipality's published collection; its government approval decision is not appended. The public restrictions cadastre does not publish current individual landowners and has no municipal planning geometry for these alpine parcels. The cantonal booklet's Manegorio ownership attribution is an institutional source, not a current land-register certificate. A permission request is not a permission, and no consent or fee amount has been secured for a reader. Ground conditions, grazing, hut services and temporary closures change. Check current sources before the tour and obey instructions on site. An unplanned emergency bivouac in genuine distress is a separate situation from a planned overnight stop. Everyone spending the night outside is responsible for their own conduct and its consequences. Hikebeast, Leon Helg and Saftladen GmbH accept no liability for decisions based on this text and call on no one to break applicable law.

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Leon Helg

Swiss filmmaker and software developer. Spends his free time in the Swiss Alps and maps his favourite spots for Hikebeast. Posts as @leon.helg on Instagram and TikTok.

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