Over the Monte Piana, 2305 m

Spectacular view

• Start: Hotel Alpenblick
• Train/bus: bus Sexten- Innichen-Toblach, bus Toblach- Cortina d'Ampezzo;
• Time of walk: rise 3h, descent 2 ¼h; total 5 ¼h
• Huts: No huts on the way
• Map: KOMPASS no 625

Those who visit Monte Piana have history or the view in mind. The extensive summit plateau was a hard-fought cornerstone of the Dolomite front during the First World War; Kaiserjäger held the northern peak (Monte Piano, 2,320 m), Alpini the southern ridge (2,324 m). Today the mountain is a large open-air museum: trenches, tunnels, barbed wire entanglements and bomb craters as silent witnesses, reminding us of the senseless dying in the midst of a grandiose high mountain scenery - never again! During the summer, jeep taxis drive along the road (closed to private traffic) to the Rifugio Bosi (2,205 m). It takes about half an hour to reach the south summit and the great panorama. Further, but also much more exciting, is the traverse of the mountain on two interesting paths: up the many serpentines of the "Pionierweg", and down the "Touristensteig", which has only recently been renovated. You start from Moos by car or by public bus in the direction of Dobbiaco and turn left there in the direction of Cortina to the hikers' car park at the Hotel Drei Zinnen (1,406 m). From there, take a sandy road to the mouth of the Rienza Valley, then turn right over the wide scree bed of the river and follow the pioneer trail (sign) uphill in hairpin bends along the rock-strewn north-western flank of Monte Piana. You can enjoy beautiful views of the shallow Dürrensee lake; to the west, the Hohe Gaisl (3,146 m) rises above high, scree-laden ridges. The path passes a small military cemetery and then leads to the former Austrian positions. Exit to the right under the vertical summit wall and in a few serpentines to the northern summit of the plateau mountain with the Dobbiaco Cross (2,305 m). The descent leads gently downwards over the war-scarred ridge into the open depression of the Forcella dei Castrati (2,272 m). Turn right here and descend via hairpin bends to a deep Schutter gully. Cross it, climbing briefly over a staircase. Afterwards, descend increasingly steeply along the wooded flank to the edge of the wide scree floor of Schluderbach. Now turn right along the foot of the mountain in the sparse forest to Lake Dürrensee (1,403 m) and on its eastern shore back to the entrance to the Rienztal valley and by car or bus back to Sesto/Moos, Hotel Alpenblick.

Elevation profile

Compass map