Swiss National Park - Driving tour

Beyond the Punt la Drossa the road to the Ofen pass climbs gradually; then comes a fairly level stretch, in which the road emerges from the forest; and finally it returns to the right bank of the Ova del Fuorn and reaches the Park Naziunal Hotel, in the lonely high valley of Il Fuorn (German Ofen, 1,804 m/5,919ft), named after an iron-smelting works which once stood here. From here a marked footpath ascends Munt la Schera (2,590 m/8,498ft: 2.5 hours), from the limestone summit plateau of which there is a fine general view of the National Park.

From the hotel the road continues uphill through the coniferous forests in the high valley of the Ova del Fuorn, past the mouths of the wild Val dal Botsch and Val da Stabelchod, at the foot of Piz Nair (3,010 m/9,876ft); several parking places. In 4.5km (3mi) it comes to the Alp Buffalora (1,963 m/6,441ft), in a marshy valley bottom, with Val Nüglia running down from Piz Tavrü (3,168 m/10,394ft) on the left and Munt da Buffalora (2,629 m/8,626ft) on the right. The road then climbs more steeply to the Ofen Pass (Romansch Süsom-Givè or Pass dal Fuorn, 2,149 m (7,051 feet: hotel), from which there is a view of the Ortler group. It then winds its way down, with three hairpin turns, first over Alpine meadows and then along the slopes of the valley, through stretches of forest, with fine views.

Tschierv (1,664 m/5,460ft): Hotel Sternen; camping site) is the highest village in Val Müstair, the valley of the Rom. Here the road crosses the river and runs down the S side of the valley, with patches of woodland, on a moderate gradient. Fuldera (1,638 m/5,374ft; pop. 112: bypass) is a little hamlet at the foot of Piz Turettas (2,958 m/9,705ft). Beyond this a road goes off on the left to Lü (3.5km/2mi, 1,918 m/6,293ft), the highest village in its valley. The main road now runs down more steeply to Valchava (1,410 m/4,626ft; pop. 217: bypass), where the first fruit-trees appear. Beyond this, on the right, is the mouth of the beautiful Val Vau.

From Zernez take the Ofen Pass road, which runs E from the main road through the Engadine to St Moritz, following the Spölbach upstream through the wooded gorge of La Serra; then a well-engineered stretch of road up the rocky wooded hillside, passing through three galleries designed to provide protection from avalanches. In 3.5km (2mi) there is a fine view down to the right of the wild Val Cluozza, the oldest part of the National Park with the glacier descending the slopes of Piz Quattervals (3,164 m/10,381ft) in the background. The road then follows a fairly level course over the forest-covered Champ Sech, beyond which the Piz del Diavel (3,072 m/10,079ft) comes into sight, and then descends down in a wide curve to the Wegerhaus Ova d'Spin (on left: parking), at the W entrance to the National Park. The road runs downhill, crosses the Ova d'Spin (parking place) and continues along the wooded slopes above the river, then above the Spölbach (parking place) and the Ova del Fuorn, flowing down from the Ofen pass, and comes to the Punt la Drossa (1,710 m/5,611ft): Swiss customs; parking place), in a narrow pass, where the road crosses to the left bank of the Ova del Fuorn. On the right is the entrance to a road tunnel 3.3km/2mi long, belonging to the Munt la Schera hydroelectric complex, which reaches the Italian frontier at the Punt dal Gall (1,963 m/6,441ft) over the River Spöl, at the N end of an artificial lake 8km/5mi long (dam, alt. 1,805 m/5,922ft, 540 m/1,771ft long, 130 m/427ft high, 10 m/33ft thick; capacity 164million cu. m/5,791million cu. ft). A road runs down the W side of the lake through a customs-free zone to Livigno (19.5km/12mi, alt. 816 m/2,677ft: large skiing area, four ski-lifts).

Santa Maria (1,388 m/4,554ft), the chief town in Val Müstair (pop. 350; Prot.), lies at the mouth of Val Muraunza, which runs down from the Umbrail pass. It has pretty painted houses, a church of 1491 and a local museum. Down the valley the view embraces the castles of Taufers and the Ötztal Alps, with the snow-capped peak of the Weisskugel. From Santa Maria a road goes off on right to Umbrail and Stelvio (Stilfserjoch) passes. The main road continues down Val Müstair, through Müstair village, into Upper Adige valley.

A local history museum demonstrating rural trades in an attractive farmhouse.

The village of Zernez (1,474 m/4,836ft; pop. 1,000), situated in a broad valley basin, is the best base from which to visit the National Park (of which a good general impression can be had in the Nationalparkhaus). Part of the village was burned down in 1872 and rebuilt in rather urban style. In the older part, standing on higher ground, is the parish church (1607), with rich stucco decoration. Another old building that has survived is the Schloss Planta-Wildenberg (17th-18th C.).