Valparola is the pass that most people drive without registering, because it comes straight after Falzarego and shares its scenery. At 2,192 metres it is actually higher, and it is the quieter of the two, a gentle crest in a landscape of green pasture and pale rock, with a small lake beside the road and a stone fort standing at the summit. The fort, Tre Sassi, was built by Austria-Hungary before the First World War and was shelled by Italian artillery in 1915. It is now a museum, and the walls still show the scars.
The road branches from the Falzarego route a few kilometres on, and heads north-west toward Armentarola and the Val Badia. It is a relaxed road, with long, open bends, little gradient, and good surface. It does not have the drama of the Falzarego hairpins, but it has a kind of calm, the quiet of high pasture, with cattle bells and larch trees. Motorcycles are plentiful, and the traffic can be slow in summer, but the views are never far from perfect.
The geology is dolomitic, but the vegetation is richer than on the harder passes. Alpine meadows bloom in July with gentians, arnica, and orchids, and the air smells of cut hay and resin. Marmots whistle from the scree, and in the evening, chamois can sometimes be seen on the slopes. It is easy to spend an hour here without doing much at all, and the little lake is a pleasant place for a sandwich.
For fuel, Cortina d'Ampezzo is about twelve kilometres away, and Corvara and La Villa, on the far side, have smaller stations. Livinallongo, to the south, is also a small place. There is little in the way of services on the pass itself, apart from a refuge and the museum. The best season is from June to September, when the road is open and the weather is warm, though afternoon thunderstorms are common. In autumn, the larches turn gold, and the traffic thins, so it may be the best time of all.