Pale di San Martino (Altopiano delle Pale)

The Pale di San Martino trek crosses the largest dolomitic high plateau in the Alps, an eerie lunar landscape of fissured white limestone at over 2,600 metres in the Paneveggio-Pale di San Martino Nature Park of Trentino. The route is a strenuous one of roughly 13 kilometres with around 500 metres of climbing, usually started from Rifugio Rosetta, reached by the Colverde gondola and Rosetta cable car from San Martino di Castrozza, which lift walkers most of the way to the plateau edge. From the refuge the path strikes out across the Altopiano delle Pale, a vast, almost treeless desert of pale rock pavements, dolines and karst fissures ringed by sharp peaks including Cimon della Pala and Cima Vezzana, with the option to continue toward Rifugio Pradidali. The terrain is rocky and exposed throughout, with cairned but faint route-finding across an expanse that is genuinely disorienting, especially when cloud descends, so a map, GPS and the confidence to turn back are essential; the plateau is graded difficult for its altitude, exposure and navigation rather than steepness. There is no water on the plateau and little shelter beyond the refuges, so walkers carry everything they need, along with windproof layers for the constant exposure at altitude. The atmosphere is unlike anywhere else in the Dolomites, a high white wilderness that feels almost lunar. The route returns to Rifugio Rosetta and the cable car, or descends on foot to San Martino for the very fit. The season runs from July to late September, once snow has cleared the high karst. Because weather can change quickly and the open plateau offers no landmarks in mist, settled conditions and an early start are important. With its extraordinary scale, otherworldly scenery and serious mountain demands, the Pale di San Martino plateau is one of the most memorable high treks in the range for experienced walkers.