Alpe Devero

Devero is a broad basin at about sixteen hundred metres in the Ossola, ringed by peaks on the Swiss border, with larch woods, peat bogs, a reservoir lake and three small stone hamlets of slab-roofed houses. It sits inside a protected area, and repeated proposals for large ski development have been rejected, so it stays a walking, ski touring and snowshoe area rather than a lift-served resort. Cars stop at the edge and the hamlets are reached on foot. Cheese is still made on the alp in summer. Lago Devero and the higher lakes around Codelago are the standard walking objectives.

What you actually see

• The larch basin - a high pasture ringed by border peaks.
• The stone hamlets - slab-roofed houses reached only on foot.
• The alpine cheese - summer production on the working pastures.
• The lakes - Devero and the higher tarns above it.

When to go

June to September for walking; winter for ski touring and snowshoeing on unpisted terrain. The access road can close in heavy snow. Summer weekends fill the car park.

Honest expectations

Vehicles stop below and everything is walked in. There are no lifts and limited services. Weather at altitude changes quickly and the basin holds snow late.

Nearby

The Val Grande lies south; the Swiss border is above.