Brenta Dolomites
The only Dolomites west of the Adige
Photo: Glysiak / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Address
Madonna di Campiglio / Adamello-Brenta Nature Park, Trentino
GPS
46.17, 10.88
The Brenta group is the only Dolomite massif west of the Adige and part of the Adamello-Brenta Nature Park. It is famous for its bold towers and for the Bocchette via ferratas, which rank among the most classic in the Alps. The starting point is the fashionable resort of Madonna di Campiglio.
Highlights
- Famous Bocchette via ferratas through the vertical walls
- Adamello-Brenta Nature Park with a brown-bear population
- Resort of Madonna di Campiglio
- Rugged towers and high cirques in the UNESCO World Heritage
Good to know
| Elevation | Cima Tosa 3,136 m |
| Special feature | only Dolomites west of the Adige |
| Classic | Bocchette via ferratas |
| Protected area | Adamello-Brenta Nature Park |
Practical info
Getting there: By car or bus to Madonna di Campiglio; cable cars into the high mountains.
Best time: Via ferratas and high tours July to September.
Cost: Cable cars and huts payable (please verify).
Safety: The Bocchette are serious via ferratas only with a set, experience and a head for heights.
Tips:
- Reserve hut places in good time
- Check the weather report carefully, the walls are unprotected
Background & History
The Brenta Dolomites are an isolated limestone group west of the Adige and thus the only large Dolomite massif west of this river. Their bold rock towers, deep notches and steep, brightly gleaming faces arose from the deposits of a prehistoric tropical sea, whose limestone, during the folding of the Alps, produced the typical, bizarre forms of the Dolomites. Since 2009 the Brenta, as part of the Dolomites, has belonged to the UNESCO World Heritage, recognised for its extraordinary scenic beauty and its geological importance as a testimony to the Earth's history.
A special role in the history of exploration was played by British alpinists of the 19th century: an early pioneer, Francis Fox Tuckett, is still recalled today by one of the best-known mountain huts of the group. In the Brenta arose, with the Via delle Bocchette, one of the most famous via ferrata systems of the Alps, which, with ladders and steel cables, leads along dizzying rock ledges right across the vertical faces and makes bold high-level routes possible. The region is at the same time a refuge of the brown bear, which has been reintroduced in the adjoining Adamello-Brenta Nature Park and has found here one of its last refuges in the Alpine region. Thus in the Brenta Dolomites the Earth's history, alpine pioneering tradition and wild nature combine into an unmistakable mountain world that glows, in the light of the evening sun, in that warm red which has earned the Dolomites their legendary reputation.
To make your trip run smoothly , our guides and gear tips for this destination:
