The Val Formazza () is a valley in the

Lepontine Alps The Lepontine Alps (, , ) are a mountain range in the north-western part of the Alps. They are located in Switzerland (Valais, Ticino, Canton of Uri, Uri and Graubünden) and Italy (Piedmont and Lombardy). The Simplon Tunnel, Simplon rail tunnel ...

, in the

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

ese

Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola The province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola (, ) is a Provinces of Italy, province in the Piedmont region of Italy. It was created in 1992 through the fusion of three geographical areas which had previously been part of the province of Novara. The ar ...

, Italy. Bordering Switzerland, it represents the northernmost part of

Val d'Ossola The Ossola (; ), also Valle Ossola or Val d'Ossola (; ), is an area of Northwest Italy situated to the north of Lago Maggiore. It lies within the Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola. Its principal river is the Toce, and its most important town Do ...

and

.Formazza Valley
Val d'Ossola.Val Formazza
Pro Loco Formazza. The river

Toce The Toce (; ; ) is a river in Piedmont, Italy, which stretches the length of the Val d'Ossola from the Swiss border to Lake Maggiore into which it debouches near Fondotoce in the commune of Verbania. The river is long and is formed in the uppe ...

flows through the valley, forming the Toce waterfall. Seven hydroelectric reservoirs were built in the valley in the 20th century: lakes Morasco, Sabbione, Toggia, Vannino, Castel, Busin, and Sruer. The valley is surrounded by several

three-thousander Three-thousanders are mountains with a height of between , but less than above sea level. Similar terms are commonly used for mountains of other height brackets e. g. four-thousanders or eight-thousanders. In Britain, the term refers to mount ...

s, the highest of which is the Blinnenhorn, followed by the Siedel Rothorn,

Basòdino The Basòdino is a mountain in the Lepontine Alps on the border between Italy and Switzerland. It is the second highest peak in the canton of Ticino, after the Rheinwaldhorn. On its summit is located a geodetic point of IGM named ''05A901 Mo ...

, Ofenhorn, Punta del Sabbione, Kastelhorn, Punta dei Camosci, Corno di Ban and Monte Giove. Ten

mountain hut A mountain hut is a building located at high elevation, in mountainous terrain, generally accessible only by foot, intended to provide food and shelter to mountaineering, mountaineers, climbing, climbers and Hiking, hikers. Mountain huts are us ...

s are located on its mountains. Two municipalities are located in the valley,

Premia Premia ( Walser German: ''Saley'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola in the Italian region Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin and about northwest of Verbania, on the border with Switzerland. As of 3 ...

and

Formazza Formazza (; ; ) is a (municipality) in the Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola in the Italian region Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin and about north of Verbania, on the border with Switzerland. Formazza borders the following municipalit ...

, the latter of which is home to a

Walser The Walser people are the speakers of the Walser German dialects, a variety of Highest Alemannic. They inhabit the region of the Alps of Swiss Alps, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, as well as the fringes of Italy and Austria. The Walser peopl ...

community. Marco De Ambrosis, Marco Valsesia, ''Val Formazza: escursioni e itinerari per tutti'', Zanetti, 2010 Much of the valley (22,233 hectares) is covered by a

Special Protection Area A special protection area (SPA) is a designation under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. Under the Directive, Member States of the European Union (EU) have a duty to safeguard the habitats of migratory birds and cer ...

as part of the

Natura 2000 Natura 2000 is a network of nature protection areas in the territory of the European Union. It is made up of Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas designated under the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive, respectiv ...

network.

References

{{coord, 46, 19, 22, N, 8, 23, 13, E, type:landmark_region:IT_dim:10000, display=title Valleys of the Alps Valleys of Piedmont