Walk this route yourself in 3D!
The Video is a 3D walk through of this route, it will give you a unique sense of having walked through the route before you start.
I have created 3D Videos of my adventures and have shared them with the OutdoorActive community as well as my walking community.
The Tre Cime di Lavaredo peaks are one of, if not the most iconic peaks in the Alps. The three peaks, and they are cutely named, ‘little peak’, ‘big peak’ and ‘western peak’ are the symbol of this UNESCO World Heritage site, and when you see it, and also see the parks and the lakes you will easily understand why, it is truly breathtaking, and it was that reason why we decided to hike from the bottom, and not just drive up to the top and do a circular of the end part.
Driving from Cortina up to the car park in front of Lago d’Antorno, a stunning lake surrounded by the woods and the mountains, we set off towards the peaks, and the journey below will go through what we experienced.
I want to point out that we did this hike in May of 2023, and as it was not long out of winter we did have to walk through a lot of snow, which for us was great, but it also meant that we couldnt do the full route around the peaks, and back to the ‘Rifugio Auronzo‘. So, what I have done is created the full route and added it as a download, and will explain later on why we had to turn around, but if you download the route above, you will have the complete circular, and if you can do it, please do as it’s epic!
Getting There: Directions, GPX and App Link
The Hiking App I use is ‘OutdoorActive‘ which has a free and Pro version, the Pro version will allow you to download the routes to your phone and use them without using up your data. The reason I mention it is that if you were to download it, below is the link to this route in my hike list on that app, you can follow the arrows and voice on that. I think it is best that you do get the app, as most of these walks are a bit tricky to explain.
- We stayed in Cortina, and we drove from there to the start point at ‘Lake Antorno‘, so make sure you got satnav in some way or another.
- You leave beautiful Cortina onto the main roads, onto the SR48, and that will take you all the way to Lake Antorno, this google maps link and address 32041 Auronzo di Cadore, Province of Belluno, Italy, will get you there.
- It was May and well out of season, but it was still very busy, and this car park filled up quickly.
Navigation Aids:
- Follow this route on the Outdooractive App, it is free, and it will guide you around safely.
- Download my hand crafted *GPX file, and use it on your own guidance devices.
- * If you’re not sure what a GPX file is, I have put this post together that will hopefully explain it in plain words. It’s worth considering as well as mobile app navigation, as they will make your hikes better & safer.
Hike Map
Hike Profile
- Distance: 11m / 17km
- Duration: 7-8 hours (lots of sightseeing)
- Highest point: 8041ft / 2450m
- Difficulty: Moderately difficult (steep short climbs), sometimes loose terrain through the woods, but season depending as snow can be thick in Spring.
- Route conditions: Well-worn pathways most of the way around, good walking shoes are a must.
Hike Description & Pics
The hike to the Tre Cime di Lavaredo (Three Peaks) from the lake, isn’t too difficult, but it’s a very long day, and in some places as you head up it is very steep. The paths are very well set out and you will more than likely see others walking up also.
We got there late May, and there was still lots of snow up high, and we did have to work our way through that, but again it wasn’t too bad, but it was very slippery and will obviously make it harder going than if you didn’t have snow, but for us it was all part of the experience, and we loved it.
The start point for this trail is from ‘Lake Antorno‘, there is parking there, but it does get full, and I would imagine during peak season, this will be full very early. You can drive up to the peaks, but I think to park it is very expensive, and is crazy busy in peak season, another reason to start here if you can.
It’s a beautiful start to the walk, with the pine trees lining the road and the lake on your right, the Tre Cime high up in front of you, it is really beautiful, and as you walk on further you leave the road, and start to make your way uphill through the woods, it is spectacular.
The woods as you would imagine start quite thick and gradually start to thin out, but it was nice to walk and listen to the nature around you and there is a nice feeling of walking through woods, around very large rocks and following a path to the Tre Cime which is always in front of you, inviting you up in the distance.
After a short while we started to see snow, and it eventually became quite thick in places but it was warm, and you could always see where you needed to go, and in honesty we enjoyed ourselves by sliding in the snow, having a couple of snowball fights and it was fun to be able to experience all the conditions.
Then the snow stopped, and we were back to rocks and some steep short climbs, and then as you clear these steep sections the ‘Rifugio Auronzo’ is in sight, others have driven up, whilst you have walked up, nearly there!
Once at the ‘Rifugio Auronzo’ you are then right at the start of the walk around the Tre Cime, we walked to the right and followed the path all the way around, there no point in me talking about it as it’s a simple route and depending what time of year you go, will depend how quick you can get around it, but literally take your time, you will never have seen anything like it.
The pictures below, tracks our hike around, through the snow, passing ‘Rifugio Lavaredo’ and then up to the shoulder right next to the peaks.
It’s worth mentioning again that on this attempt we only managed to walk up to that shoulder, we couldn’t walk any further because of the snow, so instead we turned around and walked back the same way. The route I have added to this post is the full route up and around the peaks, no turning back.
Unfortunately, as you will see the snow was pretty thick even late May, so it meant we couldn’t carry on walking, but it didn’t matter really, we experienced this mountain a different way and we absolutely loved it. So, we turned around and walked back the way we came, all the way back down.
On the way back down, the sun came back out, and we got to the see the valley below in full view and so had a different experience, then to walk back to the lake was amazing, we looked back at where we had walked too, and the feeling was indescribable.
The following pics are us walking back down and finishing off the walk.
We all said we need to return to the Dolomites in summer, yes it will be busier but to experience the aqua blue lakes and the beautiful green and wildlife will be a new experience again.
That’s it, you’re all done, back at the car and hopefully the weather has been good, and you have had a great experience.
It is worth downloading this route onto the Outdooractive app, it’ll re-assure you time wise and that you’re not heading in the wrong directions. There is so much space up there and lots of alternative paths you could accidently join.
Hope you enjoy this walk, and I’d love it if you could share this post either with the social media buttons that follow you down the screen on your left, or below in the footer. Also, comments are very welcome, I love meeting new people and talking, and you never know we could meet up on one of our walks.
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