Published on: 8 April 2013  | Last updated: 11 February 2017

A circular ride that follows the foot of the Pale di San Martino - one of the most scenic parts of the Dolomites. A straight­forward ride through Alpine meadows; superb views, and the sound of cowbells.

The ride starts off at the visitor centre for the Parco Paneveggio Pale San Martino. On your left as you start the ride is a little permanent exhib­ition about violin-making and the abete rosso (red spruce) that grows in the woods around here - they’ve been called the foresta dei violini. The wood from these trees was used, because of its particular charac­ter­istics, by Stradivarius and the other violin makers of Cremona.

The climb is up on an unsur­faced road passing the Malga Venegiota (a malga is a dairy cum farmhouse used while the cows are grazing in their summer pastures - many are now, like this one, part farm, part mountain restaurant/café) and on to the Baita Segantini where there’s a bar and restaurant. This is a good place to stop for lunch - although in peak season there are a lot of people around.

The route descends through alpine grass­lands (the area is part of a ski resort in winter), passing a refuge (‘capanna’) and another malga and then through the woods. The path gets a little sketchier here - so clockwise is probably the best direction to do this route.

Map and altitude profile

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