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CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE

Pelmo-Croda da Lago and Sciliar-Catinaccio

Plan this ride

Recorded distance
443 km
Riding-time estimate
8 h 31
Journey
Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis

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: producer-declared routed record.

Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.

Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.

Open this ride in CurveScout

Why this ride

From Selva di Cadore it runs 443 km to Selva di Cadore; allow about 8 h 31 of riding. On the way it passes The Dolomites, Puez-Odle / Puez-Geisler / Pöz-Odles, Sciliar-Catinaccio and back through Puez-Odle / Puez-Geisler / Pöz-Odles. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,850 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. The line favours views over speed.

Scenic road chapters

Passo di Giau · Dolomites

Water arrives beside the road and stays for 25 km. The line follows the shore because there is nowhere else for it to go — slow enough to look. The surface follows the shoreline, so the corners arrive where the water decided, not where an engineer did.

Rider note

Check the pass is open before you commit to it.

Chapter facts
Length
45 km
Named road
Passo di Giau · Dolomites
Pass
Passo Falzarego

Passo di Giau · Dolomites

For about 107 km this is Passo di Giau · Dolomites, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it. Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast.

Chapter facts
Length
107 km
Named road
Passo di Giau · Dolomites
Pass
Passo Falzarego

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

  1. 1. Pelmo-Croda da Lago

    Monte Pelmo is the mountain that looks like a throne. Its huge limestone mass, rising to 3,168 metres, has two summits linked by a great curved basin, and the people of the Cadore call it the Caregon del Padreterno, the armchair of God. It stands alone between the valleys of the Boite and the Fiorentina, and in 1857 it became the first major Dolomite peak to be climbed, by the Irish naturalist John Ball. Across the valley, the jagged towers of the Croda da Lago rise above the little Lago Federa, and the two together form one of the components of the Dolomites World Heritage site.

    Read the complete Pelmo-Croda da Lago write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Pelmo-Croda da Lago is where the day begins. Next is The Dolomites.

  2. 2. 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.

    Read the complete The Dolomites write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    The Dolomites comes up about 45 km into the recorded legs. Next is Puez-Odle / Puez-Geisler / Pöz-Odles.

  3. 3. 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.

    Read the complete Puez-Odle / Puez-Geisler / Pöz-Odles write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    about 152 km into the recorded legs you reach Puez-Odle / Puez-Geisler / Pöz-Odles. Next is Sciliar-Catinaccio.

  4. 4. Sciliar-Catinaccio

    Watch the Rosengarten at sunset from the valley of Bolzano and you will understand the legend. As the sun goes down, the pale dolomite peaks glow pink, then red, then purple, a phenomenon the Ladin people call enrosadira. According to the old story, King Laurin of the dwarves had a magnificent rose garden here, and when he was captured by enemies who had spotted his roses, he cursed the garden so that no one would see it by day or by night. He forgot the twilight, and so, for a few minutes each evening, the roses bloom again on the rocks. Together with the Sciliar, or Schlern, the great flat-topped massif to the north, the Catinaccio forms one of the components of the Dolomites UNESCO World Heritage site, listed in 2009.

    Read the complete Sciliar-Catinaccio write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Sciliar-Catinaccio, about halfway. Next is back through Puez-Odle / Puez-Geisler / Pöz-Odles.

  5. 5. back through Puez-Odle / Puez-Geisler / Pöz-Odles

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Puez-Odle / Puez-Geisler / Pöz-Odles write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    back through Puez-Odle / Puez-Geisler / Pöz-Odles sits at 124 km, about halfway. Next is back through The Dolomites.

  6. 6. back through The Dolomites

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete The Dolomites write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    back through The Dolomites comes up about 396 km into the recorded legs. Next is Pelmo-Croda da Lago.

  7. 7. Pelmo-Croda da Lago

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Pelmo-Croda da Lago write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Pelmo-Croda da Lago closes the day.

Leg by leg

Pelmo-Croda da Lago to The Dolomites

Pelmo-Croda da Lago → The Dolomites is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

The Dolomites to Puez-Odle / Puez-Geisler / Pöz-Odles

The Dolomites → Puez-Odle / Puez-Geisler / Pöz-Odles is 107 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Puez-Odle / Puez-Geisler / Pöz-Odles to Sciliar-Catinaccio

Puez-Odle / Puez-Geisler / Pöz-Odles → Sciliar-Catinaccio is 69 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Sciliar-Catinaccio to back through Puez-Odle / Puez-Geisler / Pöz-Odles

Sciliar-Catinaccio → back through Puez-Odle / Puez-Geisler / Pöz-Odles is 69 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Puez-Odle / Puez-Geisler / Pöz-Odles to back through The Dolomites

back through Puez-Odle / Puez-Geisler / Pöz-Odles → back through The Dolomites is 106 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through The Dolomites to Pelmo-Croda da Lago

back through The Dolomites → Pelmo-Croda da Lago is 46 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

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