The Brenta Dolomites stand apart from the rest of the Dolomites, a separate range west of the Adige valley, and they look as if they were carved by someone with a taste for drama: sheer walls, needle-sharp spires and long ledges of pale limestone glowing pink at dawn and dusk. The range is part of the Dolomites UNESCO World Heritage site, listed in 2009, and it is protected within the Adamello Brenta Nature Park, home to brown bears, which were reintroduced here from Slovenia around the turn of the millennium.
Molveno and its neighbour Andalo are resort villages, busy with walkers and climbers in summer and skiers in winter, and the lake is one of the most beautiful in the Alps, with clear water reflecting the peaks. San Lorenzo in Banale, to the south, is a village of old stone farmhouses, quieter and more traditional. The famous via ferrata routes of the Brenta, iron-cable climbing paths, cross some of the wildest ledges in the range.
The riding here is superb. Roads climb from the Adige valley through the Rocchetta gorge and up to Andalo and Molveno, with tight hairpins and views over the lake. To the west, Madonna di Campiglio and the Campo Carlo Magno pass offer more curves, and to the south the roads through the Giudicarie valleys lead toward Lake Garda. Surfaces are generally good, but traffic can be heavy in high season, and cyclists are everywhere.
Molveno and Andalo have basic services, including cafés, restaurants and accommodation, but for a reliable choice of fuel and supermarkets, plan around Mezzolombardo, about sixteen kilometres away, or the larger resort towns. Local food includes canederli, bread dumplings, polenta with mushrooms or game, and cheeses from the mountain pastures. A glass of Teroldego, the red wine from the Rotaliana plain near Mezzolombardo, is a fine reward.
Come in late spring or early autumn, when the peaks are clear and the crowds thin. In midsummer, afternoon thunderstorms are common. Ride up to Molveno at dawn or dusk to see the Brenta turn pink above the lake.