Hiking in Fanes National Park

Saying you will find yourself submerged in a fairy tale scenery is an understatement. The legend tells of an ancient pact between the inhabitants of Fanes and the marmots, guardians of the underworld.
The fate was sealed as the greedy people made a secret pact with the eagles in the hope of expanding their territory… Our trip starts at the Capanna Alpina, San Cassiano.

A steep and narrow path will take us up to the Forcella Col d’Locia. This first ascent can be quite hard so take your time.
Once at the top, the view will make up for all the effort! At the beginning, as you walk through the Fanes Grande pasture, you will be surrounded by imposing and sharp walls,the rock is the usual Dolomite rock but with a few peculiarities.

There are unusual karst formations and more recent limestone layers that confer to the ground a stair-like, nearly lunar appearance, the corrosion of time on the rock is remarkably visible. The legends calls these steps in the rock the marmot’s parliament.

You might be lucky enough to have a close encounter with the growing fauna populating the Fanes National Park. Marmots, foxes, deers, chamoises, mountain goats and eagles roam undisturbed in this unspoilt and unique environment.

As you continue walking, the view opens up leaving you in front of a wide natural amphitheatre. You will be surrounded by alpine dwarf pines, woods of spruce and you will be passing by the most beautiful mountain lakes of the Dolomites on your way.

After the short ascent to the Limo Pass, you will enter the Fanes Piccola pasture until you end up at the Rifugio Fanes.

This is the right place for a hearty meal as the place is well known for the owner’s personal engagement in the preparation of genuine, fresh dishes with a traditional twist.

Look around, you will be surrounded by the Sass Ciaval, Sass dles Diisc and Sass dles Nü, spectacular peaks that raise up to about 10.000 feet.

What we recommend:

• The hike will take up to 5 hours but it is not particularly challenging besides the first path up to Forcella Col d’Locia. Take plenty of water with you, and you will just about feel hungry when you reach the Rifugio Fanes.
• There are 2 options for the return: one would be coming back the same way which we would recommend as the afternoon will show you the famous “enrosadira”, the pink shade of the rocks will gradually be turning into purple at sunset, a unique spectacle only happening here thanks to the geological formation The other, shorter but less spectacular, would be to follow the gravel road to Pederü and get a bus from San Vigilio back to Corvara.
• Difficulty: Advanced