The best MTB trails around Splügen

Splügen

Hotel Bodenhaus, Splügen in the Rheinwald The Bodenhaus has been the solitaire of Splügen since it was built in 1722. The building originally served as a storage room for transported goods, contained the post office and offered accommodation and food for travelers. In 1822 the Bodenhaus was converted into a comfortable hotel. The guest books contain famous names such as: Albert Einstein, Friedrich Nietzsche, Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, William Turner, Napoleon III and Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian of Austria. Text / Source: Hôtel Bodenhaus, Splügen https://www.hotel-bodenhaus.ch/entdecken#:~:text=Das%20Bodenhaus%20ist%20seit%20seiner,zu%20einem%20komfortablen%20Hotel%20umgebaut.

Nice dirt road variant to reach Seebärga.

Easily accessible along a dirt road. Impressive view of Pizzo Tambo.

Steep but without difficulty. Here in winter the ski slope descends.

Splügen Pass / Passo dello Spluga The Splügen Pass has been proven to have been used since prehistoric times. There are also references to this in Roman times, e.g. the Itinerarium Antonini, a Roman road map from around 300 AD. The very close connections between the bishoprics of Chur and Como ran over the Splügen Pass. As early as 1396, there was evidence of significant customs revenues at Splügen. The expansion of the Viamala Gorge promoted its boom. The movement of goods was carried almost exclusively by packhorses, which meant frequent reloading. Transit traffic formed an important part of the flourishing economy. As late as 1798, the Austrian Field Marshal von Bellegarde wrote: "The largest train of goods from Milan to Germany goes over this pass, but mostly on horses and mules." Between 1818 and 1823, the first road that was passable for freight wagons and stagecoaches was built at the same time as the San Bernardino, and to a large extent it still follows the same route as it was then. After that, freight volumes and international passenger traffic over the Splügen increased several times over and reached their peak in the mid-1850s. The opening of the Alpine railways (1867 Brenner, 1872 Mont Cenis) had already reduced transit traffic over the Splügen. The opening of the Gotthard Railway in 1882 brought Graubünden transit traffic to a virtual standstill. A large wave of emigration was a direct result. The decades-long efforts to build a Splügen railway ultimately failed. The construction of the national road with a car tunnel at the San Bernardino opened up new perspectives. The Splügen Pass has been closed in winter since World War II. Text / Source: Interest Group for Alpine Passes IAP, PO Box 11, 6491 Realp https://www.alpen-paesse.ch/de/alpenpaesse/spluegenpass/

Splügen Pass (Alpine crossing (2113 m) Alpine crossing (2113 m) on the border between the Rheinwald in the Hinterrhein valley and the Italian Val San Giacomo (St. Jakobstal). The village of Splügen at the northern starting point, mentioned around 840 as cella in speluca, gave the pass its name. Italian Passo dello Spluga, Romanesque Pass dal Spleia. In the Middle Ages, the Splügen Pass was also known as Colmen d'Orso and Urschler. At the same time as the San Bernardino, the first road that was open to freight wagons and carriages was built between 1818 and 1823. After the Simplon and before the Gotthard, the Lower Road was thus the second Swiss "artificial road" across the Alps. For the route from Chur over the San Bernardino to Bellinzona, the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont was responsible for a large part of the costs, in addition to the canton of Graubünden. The The Lombardo-Venetian Kingdom saw this as a threat to the volume of traffic over the Splügen Pass and in return had a road built at its own expense across the national border to the village of Splügen. This road essentially corresponded to the route still used at the beginning of the 21st century. On the north side, according to the plans of engineer Carlo Donegani, the road no longer led through the avalanche slope of the Altberg. On the south side, an almost completely new route was chosen below Monte Spluga to Campodolcino, bypassing the Cardinell Gorge. Many galleries and refuge houses were built at regular intervals, especially on the south side. After the devastating flood damage of 1834, the road was rebuilt in some places. In 1841, the first mountain house with the customs station was built on the north side (2022 m). Text / Source: Historical Dictionary of Switzerland (HLS) https://hls-dhs-dss.ch/de/articles/008823/2013-01-10/

The publicly accessible Splügen castle ruins are located on a rocky peak east of the village of the same name. The castle can only be reached without a motor vehicle; it takes about ten minutes to walk from the village. There are various theories about when the castle was built, but the latest research suggests that it was built around 1340 by the Counts of Werdenberg-Sargans.