Walking in Italy's Stelvio National Park. Gillian Price

Fischersee Walk

       Walk 4 Rifugio Lago Corvo

       Walk 5 Rifugio Dorigoni Tour

       Walk 6 Baito Campisolo Route

       Walk 7 Cascate di Saent

       Walk 8 Ragaiolo Falls and the Venetian Sawmill

       Walk 9 Val Cercen

       Walk 10 Rifugio Larcher Tour

       Walk 11 Monte Vioz

       Walk 12 Sentiero dei Tedeschi

       Walk 13 Malga Covel and Waterfalls

       Walk 14 Forte Barba di Fior Loop

       Walk 15 Lago di Pian Palù Circuit

       Walk 16 Dosso Tresero

       Walk 17 The Forni Sentiero Glaciologico Alto

       Walk 18 Valle di Cedèc

       Walk 19 Rifugio Casati

       Walk 20 Val Zebrù and Rifugio V° Alpini

       Walk 21 Lago della Manzina

       Walk 22 Santa Caterina to Sant’Antonio

       Walk 23 Monte delle Scale

       Walk 24 Valle Forcola Traverse

       Walk 25 Monte Scorluzzo and Filone dei Möt

       Walk 26 Goldseeweg

       Walk 27 Berglhütte

       Walk 28 Trafoi Waterfalls

       Walk 29 Tabarettahütte

       Walk 30 Hintergrathütte Tour

       Walk 31 Düsseldorferhütte and Kanzel Circuit

       Walk 32 Madritschjoch and Hintere Schöntaufspitze

       Walk 33 The Martelltal Glacier Trail

       Walk 34 Zufritt See and Larchboden Loop

       Walk 35 Stallwieshof Traverse

       Walk 36 Pedertal

       Walk 37 Orgelspitze

       Walk 38 Soyalm

       Appendix A Route summary table

       Appendix B Glossary

       Appendix C Accommodation

       Appendix D Useful contacts

      The breathtaking views from Hintergrathütte (Walk 30)

      INTRODUCTION

      The mountainous Stelvio National Park, established in 1935, lies due west of the Dolomites in northeast Italy. The most extensive Italian alpine park, it sprawls for 1300 square kilometres across the heart of the Central Alps, embracing a wilderness of rugged glaciated summits and ridges and culminating in the massive 3905m Ortler. In between run beautiful verdant valleys cloaked with dense forests, home to both traditional village settlements and welcoming well-equipped resorts. Visitors can choose from dozens of exciting walks, each with the guarantee of breathtaking landscapes, wildflowers and wildlife day after day after day.

      This guide gives a selection of routes from each of the major valleys, presenting walks across the full range of difficulties and from a couple of hours to a full day in length. Also included are spectacular non-glacier summits that are accessible to walkers who want to go that bit further (Walks 11, 19, 23, 25, 32 and 37).

      Vast panoramas towards the Forni glacier and Pizzo Tresero can be enjoyed (Walk 21)

Geography

      The alpine landscape in the Stelvio National Park has been shaped by the massive glaciers which covered the area as long as 7000 years ago. In winter they are fed by snow, which compresses into ice, the accumulated weight dragging the glaciers downhill. When the rate of summer melting exceeds that of maintaining the status quo, the ice mass reduces in volume and retreats to higher ground where temperatures are lower, often leaving behind a typical U-shaped trough. Moreover, clumps of roches moutonnées are commonly found on vast rock surfaces that have been left exposed, smoothed by the passage of ice and grooved by stones trapped underneath the glacier and dragged along.

      Other rock debris plucked off mountain flanks ends up on top of the slowly moving body of ice. Over time it rattles off to the sides in elongated rows known as moraine. When the glacier withdraws, these remain in place and are colonised by pioneer plants such as mountain avens, which consolidate the terrain, leading the way for cushion vegetation then shrubs.

      As is happening across the whole of the Alps, the Stelvio’s glaciers are shrinking rapidly and over the last 50 years 40% of the total surface area – equivalent to 20 sq km – has been lost (21% alone over the period 1991–2003).

History

      Before World War I, east of Switzerland the border between Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire extended as far south as Lake Garda and Trento. In 1915, after signing a secret treaty with the Triple Entente of the UK, France and Russia, Italy entered WWI, declaring war on its former ally and neighbour and opening a new, urgently needed front. The fledgling Kingdom (which came into existence in 1860) had been promised the extension of its border north to the Brenner Pass as well as Istria. Troops were sent to dig in along the northeastern Italian Alps, high-altitude mountains beset with glaciers and snowed in for five months of the year. Vast labyrinths of ice tunnels spelled protection – along with disconcerting creaking as the glacier moved and sub-zero temperatures prevailed. As things turned out, there was relatively little action; however, the harsh conditions and avalanches caused shocking loss of life. When the war ended with the 1918 Treaty of Versailles the Südtirol (South Tyrol) became Italy’s Alto Adige.

      Italian WWI observatory on the Filone dei Möt ridge (Walk 25)

      Many of the old mule tracks and military supply roads form the basis for today’s walking routes. In this guidebook Walks 11–14, 19, 20, 23–26 and 29 follow such routes or visit WWI sites, poignant places that testify to the folly of man. Nowadays the magnificent landscapes can be enjoyed in the peace of a united Europe.

Nomenclature

      The Stelvio National Park stretches over the Italian regions of Südtirol, Trentino and Lombardia. In the first, the German language is dominant (spoken by 80% of the inhabitants) and although all the place names were translated into Italian after 1918, in this guide the original German names have been given preference, as they are generally more meaningful in situ (the Italian version is provided when mentioned the first time). Although all road and place signs are bilingual, it can be a bit confusing: for instance, the famous road pass known as Stilfser Joch (or Stilfserjoch) in German is the Passo dello Stelvio for the Italians. Refuges changed hands postwar,