The Fanes-Senes-Braies Nature Park looks like a marvelous medieval fortress; an unassailable castle that holds precious treasures. A majestic surrounding wall of high peaks and impressive rock walls that looks insurmountable holds and protects a splendid territory made of motley and evocative uplands, of picturesque mountain cottages and of marvelous alpine lakes; wonderful environments very different from one another as far as morphology and landmarks are concerned: a blast of colours, waterfalls, marvelous little lakes and flowering valleys.
The wonderful upland of Pratopiazza with its rifugio and the alpine cottages of Fanes e Senes are the heart of this stupendous territory.
With a surface of 25’680 hectares, the Fanes-Senes-Braies Nature Park is one of the widest protected areas in Alto Adige. It contains the municipalities of Badia, La Valle, Marebbe, Valdaora, Braies and Dobbiaco. The north border of the park is marked by the mountain sides that look at valley Val Pusteria, the west one by the steep woods that go down towards valley Val Badia, while the east border is marked by valley Val di Landro; the park stretches south all the way to the Alto Adige border towards Cortina.
Most of the mountainous chains that rise within the natural park are made of sedimentary rocks that developed as a consequence of the sedimentation of microorganisms on the sea bottom in prehistoric geological ages. These mounts feature a very peculiar karstic geomorphology. The carbon dioxide once contained in the water shaped in an incredibly evocative way the calcareous formations attributable to the Jurassic Age creating amazing rock sculptures, typical of the karstic environments.
Within the park are lake Lago di Braies -the Pearl of the Dolomites- that many consider the most evocative lake of all the Dolomites (its waters reflects the majestic rocky walls of Mount Croda del Beco), the upland of Pratopiazza, a wonderful, scenic and huge green meadow at an elevation of 2’000 meters, and lake Lago di Dobbiaco whose shores of damp meadows are a precious habitat for many species of water birds.
A wide area of the park is covered by meadows and pastures with an incredibly rich plantlife: arnica, gentian, several kinds of orchids, bistorta and crepis aurea, only to name a few. The vegetation extends from the woods of the valleys to an elevation of over 3’000 meters. The fauna is the typical one of the whole dolomitic area.
In San Vigilio di Marebbe the Visitors’ Centre of the park can provide information on the origin of the mountains, of the fossils, of the alpine pastures and of the Conturines Bear, or Ladin Bear (a prehistoric bear that used to live in the Austrian Alps fifty million years ago of which a skeleton was reconstructed with some bones found in the park).
Some of the main attractions are:
The visitors, then, can enjoy a very beautiful Nature Trail that develops above the village of San Cassiano in the municipality of Badia; the path connects the farmstead of Rüdeferia and Rü and it includes seven educational stations that give information on the different environments that the park features.
The park is crossed by Alta Via Dolomitica n.1 (also called "Alta Via Classica" delle Dolomiti).
The Fanes-Senes-Braies Nature Park can provide an endless number of possibilities with fantastic activities both in the summer and in the winter. Marvelous environments welcome the enthusiasts of all the ski disciplines -downhill and cross country- on track and off-piste, including ski mountaineering, freeride ski and snowboard, besides snowshoes excursions. And then trekking, skating, mountain bike, canyoning and rafting besides, of course!, climbing on spectacular rock walls through the classic and sports vias and through the very beautiful vie ferrate of the Dolomites. During the summer ski-lifts and cable cars allow to reach the comfortable starting points for an endless number of excursions among very beautiful alpine lakes, evocative woods and majestic rock walls.
The mountain guides of the Fassa Guide mountaineering school organize courses and excursions, both group excursions and with private mountain guide; stupendous activities and itineraries that will accompany you discovering the marvelous treasures of the Dolomites. Fassa Guide is at your disposal to assist you and to follow you in your adventures of freeride skiing, ski mountaineering, climbing and any other kind of excursion.
Get in touch with us for more information on all the activities:
Phone number: +39 349 642 4284
Reservations & info: booking@fassaguide.com
