For our last day in the Dolomites, we needed an easy but amazing hike for our tired crew. I stayed up to 2am combing through tons of websites, setting aside lots of amazing hikes that were just too much for our tired family. Then I finally found this gem and I did a little happy dance in the dark while everyone else slept. It was perfect! Über-spectacular views in all directions of lots of famous peaks. Not too hard, but not too easy, so we felt like we actually hiked, not just walked around the park. Plus there were other longer hikes that peaked our interest for our next visit.
See more of our Dolomites family hikes here.
| Location: | Cortina, Dolomites, northern Italy |
| Car: | Fedare cable car – Passo Giau 8, 32020 Colle Santa Lucia BL, Italy GPS: 46°29’13.7″N 12°02’05.5″E |
| Train: | Bus 30/4 runs between start at Fedare Impianti and end at Passo San Giau |
| Trail: | 3.2 km one way, about 1hr30 with kids |
| Elevation: | highest point 2420 m, climb 75 m, descent 260 m |
| Condition: | rocky dirt path, some tricky footing, bring hiking sticks |
| Skill: | easy-moderate |
| Open: | June to October |
| Cost 2018: | Fedare cable car one way Adult € 11.30, Child 8-16 € 6.20 |
| More info: | iski.it – webcams |
Location
This hike is near the Giau pass, about a 30 min drive southwest of Cortina d’Ampezzo.
Here’s the hiking map for the area. We went from Rifugio Averau to Passo di Giau.
Trail Overview
This trail starts at the top of the Fedare-Nuvolau chair lift. It skirts under some mountain peaks on a rocky path to Passo di Giau. You can take a bus back to your starting point.
If you want to keep hiking, you can loop back to Nuvolau on this longer trail (taking trail 443, not 438 to Rif. Nuvolau, which has a Via Ferrata requiring special equipment).
Trail Conditions
This is a rocky dirt trail, with lots of big rocks to step over and some tricky footing. Best to bring your hiking sticks and make sure to wear sturdy shoes. It’s not a long trail, but you will work a bit on the down and uphill sections.
Getting There
By car: Drive to Fedare. There is a small parking lot next to the chair lift. On busy days, cars park on the side of the road for a long way in both directions. After the hike, you can take a bus from Passo di Giau back to Fedare . Below is the DolomitiBus schedule for 2018. We found that the buses aren’t always so punctual.
By bus: You can take this bus from Cortina to Fedare impianti. Then at the end of the hike, take the bus from Passo di Giau back to Cortina.
Riding up Fedare
The Rifugio Averau hut at the top of the lift. The food is supposed to be quite good, but we didn’t try it.
View from the top looking north, away from the lift. Below Nuvolau is the Cinque Torri, aka “five gates”. Some people were hiking down to that. But you can access that area from a different lift and trail system from the valley on this side of the mountain. More about that in another post.
We hiked up a bit in the wrong direction to catch some views before getting on our trail.
Continuing on our little detour, recommended even if the path was sketchy with very loose rock. We hiked about 10 mins on this trail, then it either went straight down or straight up to climbing routes. So we just took some pics and went back the way we came.
Looking back at the hut to give you some perspective.
A lot of people hiked up to that peak to the left of the hut. I wish we had done that but it wasn’t going to happen. When you are ready to hike, follow signs to trail #452 to Passo Giau.
Start trail to Passo di Giau
Now we start trail #472, first going down the mountain on the same side as the lift.
Loved the big views from this first part.
See our trail cutting under those peaks.
After about 1 km, trail #472 forks to the left, leaving the dirt road for a narrow footpath.
Winding around the mountain above us.
Some steep bits, but thankfully short.
Cutting through the rocks.
Climbing over rocks.
A little break from the rocks.
At the top of the world at our picnic spot.
Passing one hut on our way down to the pass.
Stopped briefly at this hut for a couple snacks and WC break.
Lots of people just drive to the pass for the view and aren’t necessarily on the trail. You can catch the bus here back to your starting point.
See more of our Dolomites family hikes here.
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