Walking in the Dolomites: 25 multi-day routes in Italy's Dolomites

By Gillian Price

A guidebook to 25 multi-day treks in the Dolomites of north-east Italy. The routes range from moderate to challenging in difficulty, with varying degrees of mountain traverses, scrambles and exposure so a good head for heights is needed.

The treks range from 11 to 41km (7–25 miles) with daily distances of between 5 and 15km (3–9 miles). Each trek is designed to be hut-to-hut and last 2–4 days. The routes explore the major mountain groups of the UNESCO World Heritage site including Sella and Marmolada.

• 1:100,000 maps are included for each walk
• Treks feature notes on access, difficulty and recommended maps for navigation on the ground
• Public transport and accommodation options are detailed

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cicerone Press
• Release date: Jan 20, 2017
• ISBN: 9781783624423

Gillian Price

Gillian Price has trekked throughout Asia and the Himalayas, but now lives in Venice and is exploring the mountains and flatter bits of Italy. Starting in the Italian Dolomites, Gillian has written outstanding Cicerone guides to walking all over Italy as well as Corsica and Corfu. An adamant promoter of public transport to minimise environmental impact, Gillian belongs to Mountain Wilderness and is an active member of the Venice branch of CAI, the Italian Alpine Club. Check her out at www.gillianprice.eu.  

Book preview

After Rifugio Roda di Vael you follow superbly panoramic Vial de la Feide (Walk 22)

Walker leaving Passo Canali (Walk 14, Stage 2)

PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION

Amazing to say, but after over 30 years of wandering through these spectacular mountains, while researching this new edition I found paths I’d never walked before – with the Dolomiti Friulane a special surprise. As in earlier editions of this guidebook, each individual Dolomite group is explored, but priority has now been given to circular routes, enabling walkers to start and finish at the same place.

So here are brand new walks, revisited loops and traverses, new mapping and masses of colour photos in a completely overhauled and updated edition of this classic guide to the Dolomites. Hope you find the walks as exhilarating as I did!

Gillian Price, Venice

Near Rifugio Nuvolau (Walk 9)

INTRODUCTION

On Sentiero Palmieri basso (Walk 25, Stage 2)

The Dolomites

What can first-time visitors to the Dolomites expect? These were the first impressions of Victorian adventurer Amelia Edwards (1873):

… through a gap in the mountains

at the farther end of the lake, we are

startled by a strange apparition of

pale fantastic peaks lifted high against

the northern horizon.

‘Ecco!’ says the driver, pointing

towards them with his whip, and half

turning round to watch the effect of

his words, ‘Ecco i nostri Dolomiti!’

The announcement is so unexpected

that for the first moment it almost

takes one’s breath away.

The marvellous outlook from Forcella Lagazuoi (Walk 8)

The magnificent Dolomite mountains offer an extraordinary array of landscapes. There are high-altitude lunar-like plateaus, where adventurous walkers are dwarfed by soaring peaks, crazy spires and breathtaking sheer walls. At lower levels, dense evergreen and deciduous forests are to be found, then alpine meadows that become gorgeous seas of wildflowers in summer – quintessential Sound of Music settings to delight nature lovers. The underlying valleys are dotted with village resorts, easy to reach and well geared to the needs of visitors.

A fantastic network of signed paths lead out of the villages and valleys, snaking over ridges to link up mountain refuge huts in spectacular settings. These welcoming huts provide excellent meals and comfortable overnight accommodation, enabling walkers to embark on an extended journey through nature, culture and history.

Today’s network of paths owes a great deal to the part played by the Dolomites in World War I and the conflict between the crumbling Austro-Hungarian Empire and the fledgling republic of Italy. On invitation from the Allies – with the promise of adding South Tyrol and Trieste to its territory – Italy entered the conflict in May 1915, thus the dates of World War I are referred to in Italy as 1915–18. Due to its location, the Dolomites area became a war zone, and the borders were contested by many hard-fought battles along snowbound high-altitude mountain crests and on glaciers. Military mule tracks were constructed to supplement existing shepherds’ paths for supply and accessibility, and they comprise a significant part of the network of pathways today. Remains of fortifications, trenches, twisted barbed wire and even the occasional rusty tin can and boot sole are still scattered alongside paths, poignant reminders of the folly that saw more soldiers perish under avalanches and from the terrible cold in this harsh environment than through actual combat.

The aftermath of World War II saw many of the Dolomite villages dramatically impoverished and large-scale migration overseas was common. However, since the 1950s and 60s, the Dolomites have undergone a tourist boom, bringing with it an improvement in lifestyles and secure jobs, albeit to the detriment of traditional ways of life. The time has now come, however, to restrain development. Thanks to concerted efforts by environmentalists, in 2009 the Dolomites were recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage site. So far this has turned out to be a mixed blessing, attracting even more visitors to an already well-trodden region and spurring ever-increasing development and exploitation. More than ever, this ‘paradise’ demands more responsible valley management as well as environment-conscious walkers.

See Appendix D for suggested further reading about the Dolomites, including some fascinating early travel accounts.

Geology

The rocks of the Dolomites date back some 230 million years, when a shallow tropical sea covered the area and deposits of coral and sea creatures accumulated and hardened. Much later, around 65 million years ago, these rocks were up-ended and lifted skywards by the tectonic events that brought the Alps into existence. More recently – a mere 2 million years ago – a series of ice ages followed. On retreating, they sculpted out deeper valleys and lake beds. Ongoing weathering by snow, rain and wind continues to shape the extraordinary mountains that visitors see today.

The Monti Pallidi (Pale Mounts), as the Italian Dolomites were once called, attracted curious geologists well before tourists. A French marquis and mineralogist with the unforgettable name of Déodat Guy Sylvain Tancrède Gratet de Dolomieu came in 1789. He identified the main mineral as calcium magnesium carbonate, a variant of limestone; it was named ‘dolomite’ in his honour, and the name later extended to the mountains themselves. But the honour should really go to Veneto pioneer Professor Giovanni Arduino, credited with the first identification – in 1779, a good ten years before Dolomieu. However, Arduino’s discovery was not given importance, probably because of the difficult political climate in the Veneto at that time. It is strange to think that today we could be talking about walking in the Arduinites instead of the Dolomites.

Fossilised ripple marks

Scholars long puzzled over the abundance of fossilised shells and marine creatures embedded in the rock in the Dolomites, at such heights and so far from the sea. In 1860, long after the rejection of the theory that powerful waves had carried shells great distances during the Biblical Flood, German scholar Baron Ferdinand von Richthofen proposed their genesis as a coral reef, work that was further developed by Edmund von Mojsisovics. (Fossil enthusiasts should not miss a visit to the Natural History Museums of Trento, Verona or Cortina d’Ampezzo.)

While the sedimentary nature of dolomite is undeniable, disagreement continues over the nature of its ‘mutation’ from limestone. The earliest theory came from Leopold von Buch in the 1820s. He suggested that the magnesium-rich vapours released from molten volcanic rocks penetrated the limestone, transforming it. Researchers in Brazil have since suggested the efforts of industrious bacteria in tropical environs.

Legend suggests another explanation for the pale rock of the Dolomites … A local prince longed fervently to visit the moon and was granted his wish; while there, he fell in love with a princess and brought her back to earth. Alas, she pined for the pale mounts of her homeland. Luckily, Providence stepped in and sent gnomes to weave the moon’s rays into a fine white gossamer covering for the rock faces, making them shine splendidly. So the princess settled down and lived happily ever after with her earthling husband.

Plants and flowers

Wild campanulas and purple

gentians, deep gold Arnica blossoms,

pink Daphne, and a whole world of

other flowers, some quite new to us,

here bloom in such abundance that

the space of green sward on either

side of the carriage-way looks as if

bordered by a strip of Persian carpet.

Amelia Edwards (1873)

Clockwise from top left: vivid alpine thrift, alpenrose shrub, Rhaetian poppies bloom on scree, endemic Moretti’s bellflower, curious carline thistle

A glorious array of wildflowers, said to total 1500 species, flourish in the Dolomites region. Summer meadows turn into multicoloured carpets overnight and even high-elevation stone uplands are scattered with bright blooms competing for the attention of bees. Beethoven’s ‘Pastoral’ Symphony could easily have been composed here.

Walkers in late spring are likely to see crocuses, primroses and cyclamens, along with fringed alpine snowbells, which push up through the snow, melting it as they emerge. Midsummer offers the greatest wealth and surprises, with stunning minuscule insect orchids in damp habitats, pale pasque flowers in meadows, and scented yellow Rhaetian poppies in the company of lilac round-leaved pennycress on seemingly barren scree slopes. Pale cream edelweiss nestles amid windblown grassland, keeping itself warm by trapping heat in its hairs.

Several species are endemic: Moretti’s bellflower found in rock crevices, and the cactus-like Dolomitic houseleek, which prefers warm stony surfaces for its green-yellow sprouts. Walkers in the easternmost Dolomiti Friulane will enjoy the pale blue of Froehlich’s slim trumpet gentian, with its twirly calyx, which flourishes in clumps on scree.

Another rare delight in limestone cracks is the devil’s claw, a showy rampion whose elongated points come together in a sphere. Then there is the unique martagon lily, a wood-dweller, also known as the Turk’s cap because of the shape of its beautiful deep red flower.

One curiosity is the acutely perfumed daphne, or mezereon, its name possibly derived from Arabic for ‘kill’ – both it’s delicate pale flowers and it’s berries are poisonous. Another is the triangular-headed black vanilla orchid, which actually smells like cocoa: it is said that if cows eat it by mistake, their milk changes colour! Don’t be surprised to see pine trees sprouting light blue flowers – it’s alpine clematis, an expert tendril twister.

Autumn brings a surprising array of colour, with rosebay willowherb, iridescent blue sprays of slender willow-leaved gentians, lilac crocus and heather. Flat to the ground, set in a crown of spiky leaves akin to a wheel, the apparently dried-up and stemless carline thistle is said to be a harbinger of bad weather when closed tight (and conversely a sign of good weather when open). See Appendix D for further reading on alpine flowers.

In terms of trees, extensive beech woods account for altitudes up to 1000m, promising glorious golden landscapes in autumn. Then conifers such as silver fir take over. Hardy Arolla pine trees often sprout from rocks: the industrious – and forgetful – nutcracker bird loves the seeds and stores them in crevices, where they take root. The Arolla pine grows as far up as 2600m, together with larch, the only conifer to shed its needles in autumn and whose lacy fronds are said to have been created by dwarves as a wedding gift for a woodland queen. An expert coloniser of high-altitude scree is the low-growing dwarf mountain pine, whose springy branches invade paths.

Wildlife

Even the noisiest walker in the Dolomites can count on seeing at least a marmot. Outside their October–April hibernation period, these delightful furry creatures, resembling prairie dogs and beavers, can be seen romping or feeding on grass or flowers. They are easily ‘betrayed’ by the high-pitched piercing cry of alarm uttered by their sentinel – when you hear it, scan the landscape for a marmot trying to look unobtrusive by freezing in an upright position, amid a flurry of well-padded rears disappearing underground. Grassland marked by freshly excavated burrows is a sign of a marmot colony, and a patient wait is generally amply rewarded. Their greatest natural predator is the mighty golden eagle, which can carry off youngsters.

An alpine marmot

Other rodents such as squirrels and dormice are commonly seen in woods, and, more rarely, ermine or mountain stoats on rockscapes.

The chamois mountain goats are another good bet. Slender, fawn and cream coloured, with short crochet-hook horns, these shy creatures graze on high-altitude grassland and are often seen moving nimbly yet nonchalantly across impossible rock faces, totally at home. Herds are usually led by a female, while elderly males wander alone, their sharp poignant whistle rising above the trees. Chamois head down into valleys when the snow starts falling, sharing the forest habitat with graceful and equally timid Bambi-like roe deer.

Female ibex

The majestic ibex, or steinbock, makes for an exciting sight. This stocky goat-like creature is recognisable by its enormous thick grooved horns, which grow up to a metre on males, less on females. Successfully reintroduced in the 1970s after centuries of extinction, unfortunately their numbers recently underwent a drastic downturn due to an outbreak of mange, but thankfully reports are now talking of recovery.

Brown bears were hunted to near extinction in the 1800s, although a tiny group survived in the Brenta Dolomites. Thanks to the Life Ursus project, numbers in the Trentino have been boosted to a healthy 50, and bears have even become a nuisance, attacking flocks of sheep. Livestock are also prey to the elegant grey wolves that have stealthily spread across the Alps of their own accord, from a base in the Apennines. Should you be lucky enough to see either, use your common sense and keep your distance.

Birds include the capercaillie, a cumbersome European wood grouse that relies on conifer needles for its nest and food, except in late summer when it gorges itself on bilberries. Ptarmigan are a treat to see. They nest in stony grassy hollows, and if disturbed they take flight in a flutter of dark brown-black plumage, uttering a cry that sounds like a pig snorting. In early summer, some still wear their winter garb, pure white feathers and remarkable hairy feet akin to snowshoes to keep them afloat.

There is also a range of small songbirds, finches, hawks, chaotic jays and nutcrackers, gliding hawks and red kites, and even a golden eagle or two. The reintroduction to the Alps of the bearded vulture, or lammergeier, has led to the odd sighting in the Dolomites of this massive bird, whose wing span can reach three metres.

Cheeky alpine choughs hanging out for crumbs

The most memorable bird is the cheeky scavenging alpine chough, a type of crow distinguished by a bright yellow beak. These ubiquitous and gregarious birds can be seen performing acrobatics at high altitudes in large flocks. Aroused by the slightest rustle of a food wrapper, they appear out of nowhere to hover optimistically in the sure knowledge that all walkers stop at cols for a snack, leaving behind inevitable crumbs or apple cores (and hopefully nothing else). Another high-altitude bird is the showy but rare wallcreeper, which flashes its black plumage with red panels and white dots as it hunts for insects on extraordinarily sheer rock faces, attracting attention with its shrill piping whistle.

An unusual amphibian is the glossy jet-black alpine salamander – an exciting encounter. When not hiding under a stone, it may appear on high-altitude rocky paths and is not dependent on water.

Now that terrible dragons have been banished from the Dolomites, thanks to the crosses erected on prominent peaks, the only potentially dangerous encounters for walkers are those involving snakes and ticks, although the chances of either are rare. Hot days on exposed terrain and in the vicinity of abandoned farms could mean adders or vipers (vipere in Italian), recognisable by their light grey diamond patterning. They only attack if threatened, so if you meet one – on a path where it is probably sunning itself and may be lethargic – give it ample time and room to move away. In the unlikely event that someone is bitten, seek help immediately, keep the person calm and bandage the affected area.

As regards the tick (zecca in Italian), there have been warnings in the Feltre and Belluno districts of them carrying Lyme disease (borreliosis) or TBE (tick-borne encephalitis), which can be life-threatening for humans. That is not to say that all ticks carry either disease or that anyone bitten will necessarily be in trouble. To avoid being bitten, sensible precautions include wearing long light-coloured trousers, and spraying boots, clothing and hat (but not skin!) with an insect repellent containing permethrin. Inspect your body and clothes carefully after a walk for any suspect black spots or itching. Remove any ticks carefully using tweezers – be sure to get the head out – and disinfect the skin. Doctors will usually prescribe antibiotics as a precautionary measure. For more information, see www.lymeneteurope.org.

Getting there

The Dolomite mountains are in the far north-east of Italy, close to the border with Austria. Access from all directions is straightforward.

By plane

The nearest useful international airports in Italy are Verona (www.aeroportoverona.it), Treviso (www.trevisoairport.it) and Venice (www.veniceairport.it). Otherwise, in neighbouring Austria, there’s Innsbruck (www.flughafen-innsbruck.at). All have good ongoing bus connections.

By train

International trains run down the main north–south artery from Munich and Innsbruck via the Brenner Pass to Bolzano, continuing to Trento and Verona. Alternatively, from the east, through Lienz in Austria, a single-track line runs along Val Pusteria to Fortezza, just south of the Brenner. Other secondary lines from the south and Venice connect with Feltre, Belluno and Longarone, reaching as far as Calalzo.

By car

Approaching Italy from the north via the A22 motorway, take any of the exits between Bressanone and Trento. Otherwise, if you arrive on the A4 from the