Hiking
ViaStockalper
Brig–Gondo
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ViaStockalper
Brig–Gondo
The mule track over the Simplon, developed over 300 years ago by Kaspar Stockalper, has long handed over its economic importance to new roads. However, a few years ago it was reborn as a cultural hiking trail.
The ViaStockalper leads in three one-day stages from Brig over the Simplonpass to Gondo. Through deep gorges, extensive larch forests and moorland, along historic traffic routes, offering a rich cultural and nature experience.
Pass traffic boomed as early as the 13th century. In the 17th century, Kaspar Stockalper built a medieval mule track, making a safe trading route over the Alps in politically turbulent times. After Stockalper left the political stage, trade traffic collapsed and the mule track fell into disrepair.
The Simplon was revived by Napoleon Bonaparte who on strategic grounds built the first navigable road in the western alps in 1805. The line of the road was so modern that it was largely followed in the 1960s for the construction of the new road. Thus very little of Napoleon’s road remains.
Pass traffic boomed as early as the 13th century. In the 17th century, Kaspar Stockalper built a medieval mule track, making a safe trading route over the Alps in politically turbulent times. After Stockalper left the political stage, trade traffic collapsed and the mule track fell into disrepair.
The Simplon was revived by Napoleon Bonaparte who on strategic grounds built the first navigable road in the western alps in 1805. The line of the road was so modern that it was largely followed in the 1960s for the construction of the new road. Thus very little of Napoleon’s road remains.
The mule track over the Simplon, developed over 300 years ago by Kaspar Stockalper, has long handed over its economic importance to new roads. However, a few years ago it was reborn as a cultural hiking trail.
The ViaStockalper leads in three one-day stages from Brig over the Simplonpass to Gondo. Through deep gorges, extensive larch forests and moorland, along historic traffic routes, offering a rich cultural and nature experience.
Pass traffic boomed as early as the 13th century. In the 17th century, Kaspar Stockalper built a medieval mule track, making a safe trading route over the Alps in politically turbulent times. After Stockalper left the political stage, trade traffic collapsed and the mule track fell into disrepair.
The Simplon was revived by Napoleon Bonaparte who on strategic grounds built the first navigable road in the western alps in 1805. The line of the road was so modern that it was largely followed in the 1960s for the construction of the new road. Thus very little of Napoleon’s road remains.
Pass traffic boomed as early as the 13th century. In the 17th century, Kaspar Stockalper built a medieval mule track, making a safe trading route over the Alps in politically turbulent times. After Stockalper left the political stage, trade traffic collapsed and the mule track fell into disrepair.
The Simplon was revived by Napoleon Bonaparte who on strategic grounds built the first navigable road in the western alps in 1805. The line of the road was so modern that it was largely followed in the 1960s for the construction of the new road. Thus very little of Napoleon’s road remains.
Length | Number of stages
30 km
| 3 Stages
Ascent | Descent
1800 m | 1650 m
Grade | Fitness level
easy
(hiking trail)
|
medium
