[VAL BADIA, ITALY] — I know that’s a mouthful. But I didn’t name it. The Fanes–Senes–Braies Natural Park. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I’ve seen it called Nature Reserve, Natural Park and Nature Park… like everything around here, it has three or more names. I’m going with Natural Park.

The Dolomites are aren’t just one range, but dozens. Kinda confusing really, trying to piece it all together. It’s all called “Dolomites” or “Alto Adige” and “Süd Tyrol” … and in a part of Italy that was once part of Austria.

Some people here speak German, some Italian and others, especially in the Val Badia, speak the local ancient dialect called Ladin, which dates back to Roman soldiers — and sometimes all at once, in the same sentence! So the names everywhere on all the signs and maps are always in three languages. It fries your brain a little bit. But no matter what you call it, go there.

I’ve made a previous post in a fantastic hike in the Brenta range of the Dolomites and an incredible hotel. These are just from the high end of the valley called Alta Badia, a spectacular valley and ski area that is just a fraction of the Dolomites greatness. Val Badia is one of the three major Dolomite valleys I’ve written about, each like a string of pearls along a two lane road that winds through the valleys and tops the mountain passes. Like Val Gardena, Val di Fassa and Cortina D’Ampezzo.

In the winter, all those valleys are knitted together into the Dolomiti Superski, a giant network of lifts and runs, most above the treeline, that interconnect dozens of smaller towns. It’s true town-to-town skiing. BUT in the summer, all those runs are lush rolling hayfields that are perfect for a little Mountain Strolling™️ as I call it.

In the winter, this is all one giant interconnected ski area. But in the summer, all those runs turn into lush rolling hayfields that are perfect for a little Mountain Strolling™️ as I call it.

I recommend basing out of the cute as a button San Cassiano village, a glamorous little ski village that draws people from all over the world, but in the summer it is a fraction of the price. Go for a week or more. You can spend that in a single valley. Go for two or more and explore the other ranges.

Hiking Through the Fanes-Senes-Braies Natural Park

This post focuses on just a single long, 7-9 hour hike through the great Fanes-Senes-Braies Nature Reserve. I wanted to blow this out a little to show you how spectacular hiking is in the Dolomiti.  One long hike, hut to hut and town to town, across a broad mountain plateau and a marching line of stupendous mountains.

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I was in disbelief when I was loading up my backpack with water, snack bars and sandwiches when the owner of my hotel — the super-helpful Hugo Pizzinini of the world famous Rosa Alpina hotel in San Cassiano — said shook his head and said “You don’t need all that. This is EET-a-lee.”

“You don’t need to bring water, there is water along the way. And great food. Grabbing my map, he said “You can stop here, here and here for water. Here for a beer. This is the rifugio with the best food.” tapping at different landmarks on the map.

Living near the Rocky Mountains, where you have to pack everything you need, this was an incredulous thought.

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You park your car at a roomy parking lot right by the Capanna Alpina restaurant at one end of the trail, then take an intense hour or so hike, nearly straight up, to the giant Fanes plateau. From there there are dozens of spinoff trails to other valleys, great rifugi to stop, refresh and keep going.

The hardest parts of this seven hour hike are the first hour — a long slog all the way UP to the top of the plateau that is the entrance to Fanes-Senes-Braies Natural Park — and the steep second-to-last hour down. But the views are incredible along the way, looking back to the flattop of Marmolada, the highest mountain in the Dolomites. But once you’re up on the top, it’s a pretty easy slog, through towering mountains on every side. Trail #11 will be your friend for the next few hours. It runs up the spine of Fanes before splintering off in different directions.

Quick Stop at Malga Gran Fanes

The first rifugio, Malga Gran Fanes is a small, family-run hut serving charcuterie, beer, water and even espresso. A less crowded stop. A few horses, a new foal, a beautiful cow. What better way to break up a hike than a beer and then an espresso chaser before continuing on?

A Late Lunch at Rifugio Lavarella

I continued on to the Lavarella rifugio, which Hugo said had better food. It was also packed with sweaty smiling people. I opted for a pretty simple, but totally delicious sausage and radler. And instead of typical extortion most mountain places in the U.S. charge. All this, plus a liter of water and doppio espresso for under 15 euros. I ate too much.

The Long Hike Down

About halfway a tremendous thunderstorm squall came over, lightning was clapping about every two minutes. I was totally exposed, no tree or overhang anywhere. The lightning was so intense, at one point I sprawled flat on the ground for a good twenty minutes, praying not to get hit. Lightening and thunder all around like someone banging a pot over my head. At least I’d go out smiling.

I thought I was almost down…then saw what I still had to go through…

Back to Civilization

From here, there’s a lateral trail, #15 that will take you down to San Cassiano or to the right, to Santa Croce and all the other towns of Alta Badia.

Here’s an overview of this whole hike so you can get a lay of the geography, starting at the top at Capanna Alpina:

Here’s a little movie overview of a week in hiking in the Sud Tyrol, or Italian Dolomites in the Brenta range and Alta Badia:

— Last Visited July 2015, July 2017 and July 2019 —

More Information About Hiking in Val Badia

Here’s a link to a post I made all about San Cassiano. And posts I made about other great hikes in Val Gardena and another post about a couple of other hikes in Alta Badia. And here’s another post I made about hiking in the Brenta Dolomites and the hotel where you should definitely stay.

Here’s an AWESOME article in the NY Times about hiking in the same general area. I couldn’t believe it posted two weeks after I returned!  I think the author took the exact same hike within a week or two of when I was there. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/16/travel/italy-dolomites-hiking-trekking-camping.html