Mountain tour to the Picco di Vallandro

Our autumn hike starts at the car park of Prato Piazza in the Valle di Braies which can be reached by car via Ponticello (Brüggele) along a 10 km long toll mountain road until 10 am. We take the large hiking path no. 37 to the mountain restaurant Prato Piazza (Plätzwiese) where path no. 40 to Picco di Vallandro branches off. We proceed along a pleasant ascent until a fork where we follow the path to the left up to the peak and not the trail to rifugio Prato Piazza (Dürrensteinhütte). The view of the Croda Rossa (3,146 m a.s.l.), the highest peak of the Braies Dolomites on the opposite valley side, is simply amazing. Prato Piazza is now at our feet and we also left behind us some fir trees.

Despite the terrain being rocky in this section, our path is still well-passable and features some stone steps which allow us to continue hiking without any difficulties. As we ascend, the view of the Dolomite peaks gets better and better and we can admire different peaks, including Cima Nove, Cima Dieci, Cima Cadin di Sennes, Monte Croda del Becco, the Three Peaks of Lavaredo and the Rondoi-Baranci group.

We arrive at the foresummit via a short section secured with iron ropes and a final section along a well-maintained hiking path right before the Picco di Vallandro in the Braies Dolomites. A spectacular view of the Sesto Dolomites, the Cristallo and Fanes groups and even further than the Dolomites opens up here. We retrace our steps to return to our starting point and stop for a break at rifugio Prato Piazza.

Please note: Picco di Vallandro is one of the most spectacular panoramic peaks of the Dolomites and can be reached in a rather short hike thanks to the significant altitude of the rifugio Prato Piazza (1,990 m a.s.l.). Apart from some secured passages, this hike is not particularly difficult. Even if many hikers undertake this excursions on summer weekends, we recommend making it in autumn. The Picco di Vallandro is also a well-known peak for sunrise and ski mountaineering tours.

Author: BS