Alpe Bonze Refuge
Edited by:
Massimo Martini
Access
The Alpe Bonze mountain hut can only be reached on foot, via paths that start from the network of alpine pastures above Donnas, on the Lower Aosta Valley side of the envers. Access by car to the starting area is from Donnas via the Vert hill road, which is taken near the hamlet of Grand Vert after passing through the motorway subway. From this dirt road, it is possible to reach either the Visey mountain pasture (approx. 1,300m) or the Les Donnes mountain pasture (approx. 900m) by car, depending on the access chosen. The main trail, marked as , winds its way through a succession of alpine pastures - Montat, Caroussaz - alternating between sections of paved mule track and sections of open path on the slope. The route is classified as a hiking route (E) and can be walked from late spring to early autumn.
Summer access
from Visey - trail
From Alpeggio Les Donnes (900m) via trail and : E - 3h -
From Alpeggio Les Donnes (900m) via Colle Liet (1.940m): E - 3h45' - (1,056mD+/86mD-)
Winter accesses
Ski mountaineering
From Les Donnes via the Moja valley - Cima Bonze (2,516m): F/PD - [data to be verified with the manager]
Introduction
The Alpe Bonze Refuge is located at an altitude of 1,860 metres in the upper Valle di Donnas, in the eastern sector of the southern Graian Alps, on the edge of the watershed ridge that marks the border between Valle d'Aosta and Piedmont. It is the most easterly refuge in the region, located in the wide basin of Alpe Bonze, in the Vallone di Fer - one of the most secluded side valleys in the entire Lower Aosta Valley. The basin is bordered to the south and east by the peaks of Bec Renon (2,265m), Cima Battaglia (2,298m), Bec delle Strie (2,544m) and Cima Bonze (2,516m), which together with Mont Bo (2.026m) and the Chimes des Chamois the crown of peaks that closes the valley towards the Piedmontese Canavese.
The structure is the result of the complete renovation of the ruins of an old cattle pasture, completed in 2014 and inaugurated on 23 August of the same year. The hut is owned by the municipality of Donnas and consists of three separate buildings: the main building, with a dining room, kitchen and dormitories; a second building on two floors with technical facilities and a winter room; a third building with the manager's accommodation and an additional dormitory. Since 2023, management has been entrusted to the ExEat social cooperative, which employs people with disabilities in a work integration programme. In 2024, the hut was awarded the Legambiente green flag as an innovative high-altitude project.
Description
The Alpe Bonze Refuge occupies the upper part of the Vallone di Fer, one of the less frequented side valleys on the eastern side of Valle d'Aosta. The valley opens north-east into the territory of the municipality of Donnas, skirting the border with Piedmont along the ridge that joins Cima Bonze to Bec Renon. The basin where the mountain hut is located is wide and flat, crossed by the Bonze stream and surrounded by pasture slopes that in the summer season preserve the vegetation typical of the sub-Alpine environments of the Southern Graian Alps.
The Alpe Bonze site was originally a cattle pasture, as attested by the three stone buildings that make up the structure of the mountain hut. The renovation, completed in 2014 on the initiative of the municipality of Donnas, has fully recovered the existing volumes without altering their external morphology, maintaining the constructive characteristics of Valdostan rural architecture. The project has given the basin a welcoming structure that had been absent for decades. The mountain hut is open from mid-June to mid-September; the winter room, which is also accessible out of season, has a stove and blankets for 18 people.
The panorama from the Alpe Bonze basin opens onto the peaks of the ridge bordering Piedmont and, towards the north-west, sweeps over the Monte Rosa group - with the Breithorn, Castor, Pollux and Liskamm - and the Matterhorn. The relatively low location of the basin, combined with its distance from the main hiking routes in Valle d'Aosta, means that the valley maintains a low footfall even in the peak summer months.
The municipality of Donnas, the starting point for all accesses to the hut, is the easternmost municipality in Valle d'Aosta and the southern terminus of the Alta Via 2 valdostana, the great trekking route that connects Courmayeur to Donnas in fourteen stages across the southern side of the region. The Roman Gaul route, preserved for a 221m section in the historic centre of Donnas, crosses the valley floor at an altitude of 322m, more than 1,500m difference in altitude from the hut.
Ascents
bec delle strie (2.544m) - by crest from Cima Bonze
bec renon (2,265m) - by path from the Alpe Bonze basin
cima battaglia (2,298m) - by crest from Bec delle Strie
cima bonze (2.516m) - by north slope from the Alpe Bonze basin
Traverses
High Route 2 of the Aosta Valley (trekking - stage: Donnas / Courmayeur, point of arrival or departure of the entire itinerary)
col di bonze - Scalaro (Quincinetto, Piedmont) - crossing over the Aosta Valley-Piedmont border
col liet - col pousseuil - Pontboset - crossing to the Champorcher Valley
Excursions
colle liet (1.940m) - by path and variant via Lago Liet
lago liet (1,700m) - deviation from main path
monte bo (2.026m) - via southern ridge from the pass of the same name
Winter routes
Ski mountaineering
cima bonze (2,516m) - from Les Donnes via the Moja valley
Information
Altitude: 1,860m Location: Alpe Bonze, Vallone di Fer Mountain group: Southern Graian Alps Property: Municipality of Donnas Manager: Cooperativa sociale ExEat S.c.s. [to be verified for summer 2026 - pending new management] Sleeping accommodation: 42 (24 + 18 winter room) Winter room: yes - 18 places (stove and blankets) Period of opening: mid-June - mid-September [verify exact dates for current season] Water: in the hut Lighting: [to be verified] Services: indoor toilets, showers Wi-Fi: yes Device charging: [to be verified] Credit card payments: noDogs allowed: yes
Contacts
Phone: +39 366.3396082 / +39 338.8605294 [to be checked update for new management] Email: rifugiobonze@gmail.com Official website: https://rifugioalpebonze.com