Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: planning record, not independently verified geometry.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distances and riding times are planning figures. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
From Canazei it runs 566 km to Canazei; allow about 9 h 45 of riding. On the way it passes Puez-Odle / Puez-Geisler / Pöz-Odles, The Dolomites, Dolomiti Friulane e d`Oltre Piave and back through The Dolomites. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,950 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. The line favours views over speed.
Scenic road chapters
Great Dolomites Road
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 26 km this is Great Dolomites Road, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Rider note
Check the pass is open before you commit to it.
Chapter facts
Length
26 km
Named road
Great Dolomites Road
Pass
Passo Campolongo
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Marmolada
The Queen of the Dolomites, they call her, and the Marmolada earns the title: at 3,343 metres, Punta Penia is the highest summit of the range, and its northern flank carries the largest glacier in the Dolomites, while the south face drops away as a sheer wall of pale limestone. That glacier is shrinking fast, and in July 2022 a large section of it collapsed, killing eleven climbers, a tragedy that brought the effects of climate change home to everyone who loves these mountains.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Marmolada is where the day begins. Next is Puez-Odle / Puez-Geisler / Pöz-Odles.
2. Puez-Odle / Puez-Geisler / Pöz-Odles
Above Selva in Val Gardena and the villages of Val Badia, the Puez-Odle massif shows the Dolomites at their most theatrical: the jagged spires of the Odle, or Geisler, piercing the sky like a row of broken teeth, and behind them the Puez plateau, a strange high desert of grey scree, layered rock and hidden lakes. The area is a nature park in South Tyrol and one of the nine components of the Dolomites World Heritage site, listed by UNESCO in 2009 for its exceptional landscapes and geology.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Puez-Odle / Puez-Geisler / Pöz-Odles comes up about 63 km into the recorded legs. Next is The Dolomites.
3. The Dolomites
North of Cortina d'Ampezzo, the valley narrows between walls of pale rock, and the road toward Dobbiaco threads through a landscape that looks almost too dramatic to be real. Here, between the Cristallo group to the east and the high plateaus of Fanes and Sennes to the west, you are in the heart of the Dolomites, the mountains UNESCO inscribed in 2009 for their extraordinary beauty and geology. The rock is dolomite, a magnesium-rich limestone formed from ancient coral reefs in a tropical sea some two hundred and fifty million years ago, and the way it catches the evening light, turning pink and orange, has a name of its own in the local Ladin language: enrosadira.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 153 km into the recorded legs you reach The Dolomites. Next is Dolomiti Friulane e d`Oltre Piave.
4. Dolomiti Friulane e d`Oltre Piave
The Friulian Dolomites are the quiet cousins of the famous peaks around Cortina, and that is precisely their charm. West of the Tagliamento, between the Piave and the Friulian plain, these rugged limestone mountains rise in jagged ridges and pinnacles, with deep valleys and very few roads. They are part of the UNESCO Dolomites site and form the Parco Naturale delle Dolomiti Friulane, a wild area of forests, gorges and rock towers, including the extraordinary Campanile di Val Montanaia, a needle of rock standing alone in a high valley like a stone bell tower. Chamois, ibex, golden eagles and marmots live here, and the silence on the high trails is profound.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Marmolada closes the day.
Leg by leg
Marmolada to Puez-Odle / Puez-Geisler / Pöz-Odles
Marmolada → Puez-Odle / Puez-Geisler / Pöz-Odles is 63 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Puez-Odle / Puez-Geisler / Pöz-Odles to The Dolomites
Puez-Odle / Puez-Geisler / Pöz-Odles → The Dolomites is 90 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The Dolomites to Dolomiti Friulane e d`Oltre Piave
The Dolomites → Dolomiti Friulane e d`Oltre Piave is 129 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Dolomiti Friulane e d`Oltre Piave to back through The Dolomites
Dolomiti Friulane e d`Oltre Piave → back through The Dolomites is 129 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through The Dolomites to back through Puez-Odle / Puez-Geisler / Pöz-Odles
back through The Dolomites → back through Puez-Odle / Puez-Geisler / Pöz-Odles is 90 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Puez-Odle / Puez-Geisler / Pöz-Odles to Marmolada
back through Puez-Odle / Puez-Geisler / Pöz-Odles → Marmolada is 63 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.