The Nufenen is the highest road pass that lies entirely inside Switzerland, at 2,478 metres, and it feels it. The road climbs out of the Goms valley in the canton of Valais and crosses a bleak, rocky crest before dropping into the Ticino, and nothing grows at the top except a few tough mosses and lichens. The wind blows hard across the saddle, the air is thin and cold, and on a clear day the view of the Bernese Alps to the north and the Ticino peaks to the south is vast and sharp.
It is a relative newcomer. The road was opened in 1969, built to link the Goms with the Bedretto valley and the Gotthard route on the south side, and it was designed to be ridden. Its bends are wide and well banked, the surface is smooth and the gradient is regular, so the pass is very popular with motorcyclists and sports car drivers, who come in numbers on summer weekends. On a clear day, the sight of the road sweeping away down the southern slope into the Bedretto valley is hard to forget.
On the Valais side, the road winds up from Ulrichen through meadows and rock, with the Gries glacier and the reservoir at its foot coming into view to the east. The glacier has retreated visibly in recent decades, and the lake it feeds is an intense milky turquoise, vivid against the grey rock and white snow. A separate side road leads to the dam, a short detour from the main route.
The pass is open only in summer, usually from about June to October, depending on snow, and it can close at short notice in bad weather. Snow can fall in any month, and ice may form on the road at night, so check the status before you set out. At the summit there is a small restaurant, which may or may not be open, and a place to park. Do not underestimate the cold, which can be severe even in July, and wear all your layers.
Ulrichen, on the Valais side, has services, and so does Airolo on the Ticino side, though both are some distance away. Naters, near Brig, is the larger town to the north-west, about forty kilometres from the pass. Top up in Ulrichen or Airolo, and bring snacks, since nothing is guaranteed at the top.