Lagazuoi WWI Tunnels Trail

The Lagazuoi WWI tunnels trail descends through one of the most remarkable open-air museums in the Alps, a network of front-line galleries carved into Mount Lagazuoi during the First World War, when Italian and Austro-Hungarian forces fought a brutal tunnel-and-mine war for the heights above Passo Falzarego in the Dolomites. The usual route is a point-to-point descent of around 4 kilometres dropping some 630 metres from the Lagazuoi cable-car top station at 2,732 metres down to Passo Falzarego at 2,105 metres, taking the funivia up from the pass and walking down through the restored tunnels and trenches. Inside the mountain, steep stepped galleries with fixed cables and ladders thread down through the rock, opening occasionally onto former gun positions and viewing windows; a head torch is essential, as the tunnels are completely dark, and gloves and a warm layer help in the cold, damp interior. The terrain is genuinely demanding for a descent, steep and rocky with the laddered tunnel sections, so it is graded moderate to difficult and best for sure-footed walkers, though the cable-car ascent removes the hard climbing. Between and after the tunnels the open path offers sweeping panoramas over the Tofane, the Marmolada glacier and the Cinque Torri, with the surrounding Fanes-Sennes-Braies park spread out below. Interpretive signs explain the wartime history, making this as much a historical pilgrimage as a hike. The route can also be extended into a longer loop for those with more time. The season runs from late June to early October, once snow and ice have cleared the steep galleries. With its combination of dramatic mountain history, restored tunnels and some of the finest panoramas in the range, the Lagazuoi descent is one of the most distinctive walks in the Dolomites for confident, well-equipped hikers.