Rifugio Fratelli Longo by e-bike: the Devil's Lake above Carona

From the Brembana valley floor to the reservoirs, with a little help

From Carona, the last village in Val Brembana, you climb the dam service road: a steady gradient on good gravel, with the view opening at every bend. At the top sits Rifugio Fratelli Longo at 2,026 metres, looking over the Lago del Diavolo — which despite its name is an emerald mirror closed in by the Orobie ridges.

It is a long climb but never technical: the classic ride that pedal assist turns from punishment into pleasure. You come down the same road, with a few gravel variants where the surface allows.

Why come

• Eleven hundred and fifty metres of climbing that assist turns into a smile.
• Two reservoirs and a real mountain hut to stop and eat in.
• A qualified guide who knows the variants and where the road gets rough.

Good to know

The e-bike is not included: if you do not have one you can hire it in Val Brembana, at Piazza Brembana and San Pellegrino, for around €40-60 a day. You need an electric mountain bike with knobbly tyres and a full battery: a city bike will not make these climbs. Helmet required. You go above two thousand metres: even in July the wind up there is cold, bring a shell.