Bocenago
Bocenago is a small municipality in the Val Rendena, in Trentino, set on the left bank of the Sarca river at 750 metres above sea...
Updated 21 July 2026
This season · July · Summer
What to do in Bocenago now
The story
The story of Bocenago
Bocenago in the Val Rendena, along the Sarca
Bocenago lies in the Val Rendena, the valley that opens between the Adamello-Presanella massif and the Brenta Dolomites, run through along its entire length by the Sarca river. The village occupies the left bank of the stream at 750 metres above sea level, on a stretch of valley floor squeezed between the woods climbing toward the Brenta to the east and the first foothills of the Adamello to the west. The small municipality, with just over four hundred residents, borders Caderzone Terme and Spiazzo, with which it shares much of its administrative history and tourist infrastructure, as well as Massimeno, Strembo, Comano Terme, Stenico and Tre Ville. This position, set slightly apart from the valley's better-known centres such as Pinzolo and Madonna di Campiglio, has allowed Bocenago to keep a more intimate, rural character, while remaining well connected to the main hiking and skiing routes of the Val Rendena.
The Adamello-Brenta Natural Park and the Outdoors
Much of Bocenago's municipal territory falls within the Adamello-Brenta Natural Park, established in 1967 and today the largest protected area in Trentino, covering more than 62,000 hectares between the Adamello glacier, one of the most extensive in Europe, and the Dolomite spires of the Brenta group. The park is best known for its brown bear population, which has returned to live stably on these slopes thanks to the Life Ursus project launched in the late 1990s, as well as for rich Alpine wildlife including chamois, roe deer, red deer and golden eagles. From Bocenago, trails climb toward the side valleys of the Adamello-Presanella and Brenta groups, through conifer woods, alpine huts and high-altitude pastures, offering a quieter approach to the park than the busier slopes around Madonna di Campiglio. The village is also a convenient base for golfers, thanks to the nine-hole course of the Rendena Golf Club, which spreads across the territory of Bocenago and the neighbouring Caderzone Terme.
The Church of Santa Margherita and its Artistic Heritage
The main monument in Bocenago is the parish church of Santa Margherita, whose origins date back to at least the first half of the fourteenth century, as attested by a parchment document in the municipal archive mentioning the cemetery attached to the building. The church was enlarged and rebuilt several times, notably around 1427 and 1523, until the nineteenth-century intervention of architect Pietro Parolari, who between 1870 and 1874 gave it its current Greek-cross plan with a central tiburio and dome, along with its sober neoclassical facade. The bell tower, with its octagonal onion-shaped dome, is instead the oldest part of the whole complex, having survived the later rebuildings. Inside, the church preserves fifteenth-century frescoes and later decorations, including scenes of Saint Margaret taming the dragon and withstanding the torture of fire, painted in 1881 by Valentino Pupin and partly retouched in 1939 by Johann Matthias Peskoller; alongside these hangs a canvas depicting the Deposition, attributed to the Venetian school of Vittore Carpaccio, a testament to the valley's cultural ties with the Venetian plain.
Masi Farmhouses, Trails and Nature between the Sarca and the Brenta Dolomites
The landscape around Bocenago still bears the marks of a centuries-old agricultural and pastoral economy: scattered masi farmhouses, small wooden and stone barns, terraced hay meadows and woods of spruce and larch climbing from the valley floor toward higher elevations. The Sarca river, flowing at the foot of the village, has shaped over the centuries a narrow yet fertile valley floor, today also crossed by cycle paths and trails linking Bocenago to the neighbouring municipalities of Caderzone Terme and Spiazzo. From here, hiking routes of varying difficulty set off, from easy walks along the valley floor to climbs toward alpine huts and high pastures on the edge of the Adamello-Brenta Natural Park, with views ranging from the spires of the Brenta to the glaciers of the Adamello. This balance between rural life, protected nature and high mountains makes Bocenago a quiet base for those seeking a less crowded side of Trentino, just as rich in scenery.
History and Experiences in Bocenago
Bocenago's administrative history is marked by the Fascist suppression of 1928, when the municipality was merged with Caderzone into a larger commune of Strembo: a merger that lasted twenty years, until the restoration of municipal autonomy in 1947. For centuries, as in many villages of the Val Rendena, the local economy also relied on the seasonal emigration of arrotini, itinerant knife-and-scissor grinders and small craftsmen, who carried their travelling trade far from the valley before eventually returning. Today this rural and artisan memory comes back to life especially in mid-August, when the Com'eravamo festival turns the village into a historical re-enactment of old trades and traditions, with reconstructed workshops and scenes of everyday life from another era. Alongside its cultural events, Bocenago offers a low-key tourist experience made of hiking, golf and relaxation, in an Alpine setting that favours the quality of the experience over the number of visitors.
Not to be missed
- The Church of Santa Margherita, with fifteenth-century frescoes and decorations by Valentino Pupin
- A walk along the Sarca river between Bocenago, Caderzone Terme and Spiazzo
- A hike toward the alpine huts and pastures on the edge of the Adamello-Brenta Natural Park
- A round at the Rendena Golf Club, spanning Bocenago and Caderzone Terme
- The Com'eravamo historical re-enactment festival in mid-August
To see
What to see in Bocenago
Routes · Trovido Route
