The Tre Cime di Lavaredo Hike | Italy Dolomites Hiking (One of the best hikes in Europe!)
When it comes to bucket list worthy outdoor adventures, the Tre Cime di Lavaredo hike in the Italian Dolomites should be on every traveler’s list. Tre Cime is a set of extremely prominent mountain peaks located in the Italian region of South Tyrol.
It is part of the Sexton Dolomites and is situated in the eastern part of the Alps. Hey, everybody. I’m Wes Mergard And over the course of today’s video, I’m going to cover everything you should know before attempting one of Italy’s best hikes. Watching this video is especially important
If you plan to visit during shoulder season. The main access road leading to the trailhead doesn’t open until June some years, and even then you still might encounter snow or ice along the trail. So let’s get started. If you’re wondering, Tre Cime di Lavaredo means the three peaks of Lavaredo in English.
The peaks are referred to as Drei Zinnen in German, which means the three Merlins. If you don’t know what a Merlin is, no worries. I had to look it up myself. It’s a medieval castle structure that resembles the shape of these prominent peaks. The three mountain peaks are individually named Cima
Grande, Cima Piccola and Cima Ovest These names translate to Big Peak, little Peak and Western peak in English. The hiking area falls within the Tre Cime Natural park, a protected area of the Italian Dolomites. The peaks are in close proximity to Lake Misurina and Cortina D’ampezzo.
It’s super important to time your visit with the seasonality of Tre Cime The year we visited the access road leading up to the trailhead didn’t open until June 1st. While you can reach the Tre Cime trailhead outside of peak season on foot, it will add another six miles or nearly ten kilometers
Of round trip hiking and a significant amount of elevation gain. It’s also well worth it to arrive at the trailhead before sunset. First off, this ensures you won’t have to deal with any traffic getting to the parking area and you won’t have to wait in line
To secure a parking space, which can happen on busier afternoons. This also means you’ll be able to enjoy the hike while the three peaks are lit up by the early morning sun. If you’re a photographer, consider this a must. And if you’re not, you should still do it anyways,
Because the morning light will make the scenery that much more incredible for our hike and the footage shown in this video. We arrived just before 5 a.m.. Not only was the lighting amazing, but on this particular day the cloud level was almost perfectly parallel with the hiking path.
It felt like we were walking on clouds as everything but the highest mountain peaks were completely obscured by a layer of cloud cover. Keep in mind that there are two different ways to tackle this 6.2 mile, 10 kilometers circuit from Rifugio Auronzo
So you can either work around Tre Cime in a clockwise or counterclockwise pattern. We did the loop in a counterclockwise motion and loved our views. The 1600 feet or 500 meters of elevation gain is pretty mild. But keep in mind, you’ll be hiking at an elevation of around 10,000 feet or 3000 meters.
Anticipate spending about 3 hours on hiking and budget more time. If you plan to stop for lunch at a Rifugio or to leisurely take in views along the way. Ideally, you would have spent at least two days acclimating to this elevation in a nearby town.
If you’re worried about getting lost along this hike, there are quite a few different routes crossing through the area. I’d recommend downloading AllTrails before you visit. This way you can download offline maps and track your hiking progress along the way.
Another good tip for not getting lost is to remember which side of you the three peaks face when you start. Since the loop is mostly circular, the peaks should always be to your right or left shoulder while you hike. there will be a few marked intersections along the way.
And if you follow the counterclockwise route that we took, you should be following trails 101, 102 and 105, including Rifugio Auronzo Near the parking lot, you’ll encounter a total of three Rifugios along the way. as long as you’re hiking here during busy season, the Rifugios
Will provide hikers with an opportunity to stop for food, water and restrooms. If you’re coming to the Dolomites during shoulder season, which is considered outside of June through September, you do run the risk of the Rifugios being closed when we hike the circuit. On June 1st, the first day that the access road
To Tre Cimes trailhead open for the season. The Rifugios had not yet opened. If you’re visiting early or late in the season, be mindful that you could encounter ice or snow during your hike. We encountered a downward sloping section of trail that was covered in stone ice about 45 minutes into our hike
Without any micro spikes or trekking poles is made for a very tricky descent. So if you have either of those at your disposal, be sure to pack them regardless of which direction you go. You’ll begin on the South face of Tre Cime But the best views of
The three peaks will be had once you rotate around to the northern face. If you aren’t planning or able to complete this hike, you can still enjoy amazing views. Of the three peaks and surrounding area from near the parking lot. While I’d classify this as a moderate difficulty hike due to the combination
Of length, elevation gain and altitude, there aren’t any technical portions. You will encounter a couple of short stretches of narrow trail that are exposed to steep drops, but for the most part you won’t have to deal with heights or dangerous sections of trail for much of the day.
If you’re looking for tips on what to pack for the hike, I already mentioned that micro spikes and trekking poles could come in handy earlier in the video. other than that, I’d suggest dressing in layers since the temperature and weather can fluctuate dramatically here throughout the day.
Be sure to wear sturdy hiking boots for this one since some of the sections of trail can be quite rocky. Per usual, pack sunscreen, snacks and plenty of water, especially if the Rifugios aren’t available during your visit.
Also, I’ll be sure to include a link to my day hike checklist in the video description below, which is a great resource to ensure you don’t forget any hiking essentials. The Tre Cime di Lavaredo Circuit was one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever hiked.
The terrain looked like something from another planet and was only that much more dreamy due to the golden hour colors and cloud conditions. When we visited. If you’re visiting the Dolomites, be sure to include this Stop on your itinerary. Okay, That’s it. That’s all that I’ve got.
If you found this video helpful, be sure to check out the dedicated post I wrote on visiting Tre Cime di Lavaredo, which is available on my blog. There will be links to that and other helpful trip planning resources in the video description as well.
Don’t forget to subscribe and check out some of my other channel content while you’re at it as well. Once again, I’m Wes Mergard and thanks for watching.
One of the best hikes I’ve ever completed is the Tre Cime di Lavaredo hike located in the Dolomites of Italy. We got an early start to this adventure to ensure we’d enjoy sunrise during it and ended up having the entire Tre Cime di Lavaredo area to ourselves. This video is packed with tons of useful tips and information for hitting the best hike in the Dolomites of Italy!
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5 Comments
Beautiful
brb, packing my bags to the dolomites!
dolomites is super high on my bucket list!
It’s is one of the bucket list hikes. Definitely will use your tips when planning!
This hike blew me away, absolutely stunning mountain range! 👏👏