Coastal Touring

The kayaking tour of the lake is a unique opportunity to appreciate this environment from a particularly suggestive perspective. Navigation is strictly limited and must be authorised by IREN, the company that manages the reservoir and the aqueduct that uses its waters. In agreement with the manager and with the patronage of the Municipality of Torriglia, ASD Torriglia Sport offers guided tours in spring and summer.

The tour of about three hours starts from a narrow bend in the vicinity of the dam on the northern side of the lake near a fishing hut easily accessible from the road. Navigation then proceeds along the northern shore, always keeping at a distance from the shore so as not to alter the steep seabed place of reproduction and shelter of fish and amphibians. The paddling continues in the silence of the lake, completely surrounded by a thick wood from which emerge, higher up, the colorful houses of the towns of Retezzo and Fontanasse. After a kilometer and a half you enter the longest side branch that occupies the valley of the stream Spave. During the summer, the height of the reservoir drops by several meters for water withdrawals that is purified downstream. The shores therefore have a steep stretch of open sea bed characterized by crumbly rocks and mud. For this reason, the landing place is not practicable except in some points upstream at the tributary that is reached after passing the village of Albora visible on the coast to the mountain. In late spring, however, the waters lap the forest that is reflected directly on the surface of the lake. Once you have reached the Brugneto stream, overlooked by the bridge of the provincial road, continue along the southern bank under the village of Bavastri, visible above the woodland. It is not uncommon here to see deer drinking along the shore while cormorants or herons are circling in the sky. Other secondary branches of the lake branch off following the narrow valleys of the Bansighi, Lautra and Battaglia streams. Near a hill prominent on the reservoir, about 500 meters from the dam you leave the southern coast to cross the lake and return to the starting point indicated by the fishermen's cottage clearly visible on the shore. This detour is necessary to avoid getting too close to the dam where navigation is always strictly prohibited for safety reasons. The tour then ends at the landing under the hut frequented, as well as by fishermen, noisy ducks and geese.