Anello del Monte Avena

The ring of the alpine pastures of Monte Avena is an easy walk that allows you to enjoy a truly commendable view to the north of the Vette Feltrine, with Monte Pavione the highest peak, while to the south on the Monte Grappa Massif, with Fontana Secca, Solaroli, Col dell'Orso, Cima Grappa, Monte Tomatico and just below Lake of Corlo. A small view also to the east towards the Lagorai with Asta peak and to the west on the Asiago plateau with Cima XII. A truly 360 degree panorama!

In spring it is the ideal environment to admire the flowering of the Crocus, which, blooming when the snow melts, fill all the pastures of the mountain giving the vision of a unique landscape.

In summer, then, you can stop in the mountain huts along the route: Malga Campet and Malga Campon. From the latter you can reach the Cross of Aune, which peers from above the Lake of Corlo.

For lovers of paragliding, then, the Monte Avena is also called the "sky of champions" as a famous take-off place for those who love this sport and location where the Italian Paragliding Championships are held.

It starts on foot from the area of  Casere dei Boschi, situated about halfway along the gentle ridge that connects the Croce d'Aune Pass with the top of Mount Avena. There, there is a malga (mountain hut) owned by the Municipality of Pedavena, inserted in the perimeter of the Dolomiti Bellunesi National Park. There is also a large parking area and a picnic area.

Take the dirt road uphill from the mountain hut and turn right onto the grassy slope. You then climb the meadow, which at the beginning of spring is studded with white and purple crocuses, gradually gaining a panoramic view of the Vette Feltrine (peaks). You proceed pleasantly, distracted by the sounds of the birds that inhabit the forest and the tracks left by other animals. If in winter the footprints of the hare are frequent on the snow, as soon as it melts, the network of tunnels built by voles appears. Further up, you can see beech trees a bit stunted and twisted, probably a consequence of the bites of grazing cattle.

After about half an hour of walking the slope is reduced, near the memorial stone in porphyry that marks the border between the municipalities of Pedavena and Fonzaso. In a short time you reach the summit plateau of Mount Avena and the view opens wide on the Vette (peaks), the Lagorai chain, the Cima d'Asta mountain range, the Asiago plateau and the Grappa massif (from north to south). Following first the track on grassland, then the dirt-bottomed carriage road, you can reach Malga Campon and, deviating to the left before the mountain hut (malga), you can reach Croce d'Avena (Avena Crucifix), overlooking the steep slope dominating the Fonzaso plain. Between March and October the pasture is filled with fragrance and color as trollius europaeus, bluebells, gentians, orchids and the less showy graminaceous plants.

Retracing your steps near the arrival station of the ski lift, you walk along the road that gently descends to Casere dei Boschi. The walk is very pleasant for the views from up here and, if conditions are favorable, for the sailing of colorful paragliders and hang gliders. The runway of Mount Avena is known internationally and periodically hosts important competitions of free flight. A little more than a kilometer downstream, passing under the ski lift, there is a crossroads; continuing along the main road, in about 30 minutes you descend directly to Casere dei Boschi.

Instead, the itinerary continues downhill along the ridge, avoiding the convenient mule track on the right; after crossing the spruce forest, with a few patches of raspberry, you come out on a beautiful meadow clearing where the rustic cottages of Stalle Buse stand. From here, passing in front of the buildings, it takes a few minutes to descend to the paved road near the large parking lot of Chalet alle Buse, the starting point of the main ski slope of Mt. Avena. Then follow to the left the asphalt road that, slightly uphill, passes some wooded valleys and the Sporting Hotel, allowing you to quickly return to the starting point.

FURTHER INFORMATION ON... The archaeological site of Mount Avena 

In the Pleistocene, the top of Mount Avena emerged from the thick ice that covered the valley of Belluno. This has meant that the sediments, accumulated over the millennia on the summit plane and on the slopes, have not been removed, allowing the preservation of the oldest human remains. In the years 1984-86, the archaeologists of the University of Ferrara carried out an excavation of great scientific interest, in a small depression adjacent to the road leading to Malga Campon. Delving deeper into the strata, a few artifacts from the Middle Paleolithic (Mousterian), produced by Neanderthals about 60,000 years ago, were collected. Instead, there are numerous artifacts belonging to the culture of the upper Paleolithic (about 30,000 years from the present). Tools produced about 5,000 years ago by the last humans of the Neolithic culture and the earliest users of copper were collected in the upper levels of the excavation. Finally, in a hollow of the Campon d'Avena, fragments of vessels from the Early Iron Age have been identified: they are evidence of the presence of camps of breeders of the protohistoric era.