Passo Campolongo - Pico Setsas

Access to the starting point:
Drive through the Karavanke Tunnel into Austria, then continue to Spittal and on to Lienz (the motorway ends a little after Spittal). We continue along a relatively nice and wide road through the Drava Valley, which leads us into Itali. The road continues past Dobbiaco/Toblach and Brunico/Bruneck. Just after the last-mentioned town, which is passed by a bypass road, we turn left into the Val Badia valley. Continue along the valley past La Vila and Corvara. Then climb up to the Passo Campolongo. A few hundred metres before the pass, you will see a gravel parking area on your left. The parking lot is located behind the Hotel Laguscei, opposite the bus stop. The lower station of the chairlift is also along the road. There is also a smaller parking lot on the right hand side of the road in front of the bus station.

Path description:
From the parking lot at the Laguscei Hotel, take the cart track, which runs to the right under the cable car, and after a few dozen metres you will reach a marked crossroads.

Bear left on the fainter cart track, where you will be directed by the signs for "Inzija, Pralongia". To the right, cart track leads to the top of Cherz. Our route then crosses the ski slope to the left side of the cable car and cart track quickly becomes a track. The path then leads into the woods and down to the left the path branches off towards the Planac parking lot and on towards Corvara. We continue straight on and the path quickly leads out of the forest and onto the ski slope. Here the path climbs steeply up the ski slope for a short distance and then turns left off the ski slope and into the forest again. The trail continues through the forest, from which we occasionally get views of the Puez mountain group. This path soon leads to a crossroads, where another slightly longer path joins from the Passo Campolongo pass on the right.

At the crossroads, continue left and then cross through the forest, heading mainly eastwards. The path then leads out of the forest to a clearing or ski slope where there is a bench and another crossroads.

To the left another path leads down to Corvara, to the right a path leads to the summit of Cherz, and we continue straight on, following the signs "Inzija, Pralongia". The gentle path, which occasionally drops slightly, continues through the forest to the east. Here you will also see a few benches and small wells along the way. Once out of the forest, there is only a short descent and the path leads to the Passo Incisa saddle, where it joins the macadam road. There is also the beautifully decorated La Marmotta hut on the left.

At the marked crossroads in front of the hut, continue straight ahead on the road in the route Pralongia. Immediately from the hut, the road starts to climb quite steeply to the east. Here the path passes close to the cable car and the Incisa ski slope. Continue along the ascending road from which you can see increasingly fine views of the Marmolada, Sella and Puez mountain groups.

A path then branches off to the left slightly downhill towards hut Rifugio Punta Trieste, and we continue up the road. Higher up, the road turns slightly to the left and brings us to another crossroads. To the left is another path towards the aforementioned hut, and we continue slightly to the right and continue climbing towards the top of Pralongia, where we can already see the upper station of the cable car. We then continue along the scenic road all the way to the top of the hut, which is also the Rifugio Pralongia. From here, you will also have an even better view of the mountains above the Val Badia valley and the Setsas peak.

From the summit, follow the wide path eastwards to the signs for Setsas and Col di Lana. At first the path descends gently and follows a wide, undistinguished ridge. The path then continues eastwards and begins to climb gently. As you approach the slopes of Stores, the trail turns left and leads to the north side of the summit, where there is also a marked crossroads.

Here, leave the wider macadam path and turn right up the track, which climbs up the grassy slope towards the summit of Stores. After a short climb, you can see the cross at the top. The path then turns slightly to the left and soon reaches a viewpoint with a cross and a bench on the top grassy slope.

From the top of Stores we continue along a wide grassy ridge and continue gently descending eastwards for some time. Later, the ridge to the right south side becomes a little steeper and the path then climbs slightly again for a short time. The descent continues on the left side of the grassy ridge. This path then leads to a saddle where we cross cart track.

From the saddle we start climbing again and there are again some more trees along the way. Here we also climb along a small stream which occasionally runs along the path, which can be a bit muddy as a result. The trees become thinner again and when we get a little closer to the slopes of the Setsas peak, the path leads us to a marked crossroads.

To the left, the path leads to the summit of Setsas, while we continue straight on along route 23, which leads to the saddle Passo Sief and the summit of Col di Lana. The path from the crossroads then leads past a small house and continues to climb gently on grassy terrain. It then crosses a slope strewn with rocks and boulders before descending slightly and the terrain becomes slightly more grassy again. Later, the path turns left and climbs towards the scree below the precipitous walls of Setsas. Here the terrain becomes rockier again. The path then crosses the slopes below the cliffs to the south-east and occasionally descends gently. This route then leads to the slopes of Pico Setsas where there is also a slightly less visible unmarked crossroads. The summit of Pico Setsas has been clearly visible from the trail for some time and is directly ahead of us below the precipitous walls of Setsas Peak.


At this crossroads, leave the marked trail towards the Passo Sief saddle and turn left onto the unmarked trail towards the summit of Pico Setsas. From the crossroads, climb steeply and the trail leads to a prominent saddle on the left side of the summit of Pico Setsas. This trail used to be marked, so you may also see some faded markings along the way. At the saddle, the terrain becomes grassy again and the path leads us to a fence where we join the path from the east.

At the saddle, continue right along the fence and climb up the slope of Pico Setsas. The grass soon ends and there is a slightly steeper climb to the summit. Here you will also see some remains from the First World War along the way. There is a short climb up some steps and a very nice view on all sides. To the very top, where a small cross is erected, there are only a few metres of steep climbing where you have to help yourself with your hands.

On the way: Passo Incisa (1938m), Rifugio La Marmotta (1938m), Pralongia (2109m), Stores (2185m)

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