Today I take you on a discovery of one of the beautiful beech forest, which is located on the Cansiglio plateau. We are located in the Venetian Prealps, on the border between the provinces of Belluno, Treviso and Pordenone in a natural area rich in history, beautiful landscapes and a dense and intricate network of trails that will meet the needs of any walker (here the trails on the plateau).

The proposed trail traces in part the route called “Cansiglio Ring” and aims to allow us to see large parts of the forest, alternating sections in the dense forest with others in decidedly more open and grassy areas and finally allowing us to reach several points of historical and cultural interest that arise in this area, such as the Vallorch Village or the Botanical Garden Lorenzoni. The trail, although long, presents no difficulty and the decidedly low elevation gain makes it doable for practically anyone. Several alternative sections also allow you to take a few shortcuts and thus shorten the overall distance considerably.

I had been eyeing these places for quite some time now and had marked them on my map, partly because of the incredible beauty of the centuries-old beech trees that populate this vast forest, but also because in these areas, especially early in the morning, it is not at all uncommon to have close encounters with the local fauna, consisting mainly of deer and roe deer. Moreover, the choice of the period (early November) is not accidental: the Cansiglio forest is mainly made up of latifoglie (especially in the southern part of the plateau), which in the autumn period dye beautiful orange colors, then leaving a beautiful natural carpet of colorful leaves to fall on the trails.

In short, the preconditions for a pleasant hike in the woods and a beautiful colorful sunset are all there, we just have to go!

Sommario: Trekking nella Foresta del Cansiglio – Anello del Cansiglio

Dati tecnici – Sentiero Foresta del Cansiglio (Anello del Cansiglio)

Map: Trekking in the Cansiglio Forest

Hiking map: map

Short variant: Walk along the Cansiglio ring - short version, (laviadelleprealpi.it)

Follow me Wikiloc

Best offline map app for trekking: Review Mapy.cz - The best app for trekking (stefanopoma.it)

Where to Park on the Cansiglio Plateau

The Cansiglio plateau is crossed by the provincial road SP422. As you drive along it you will notice several parking areas and quietly usable lay-bys to leave your car and begin your hike. The southern part of the plain also has some wide dirt parking areas and several restaurants and shelters. Finding a place to leave your car will therefore not be a problem.

I leave below the location of the main parking lots in the area:

• Via dei Cimbri parking lot: location
• Parking Parcheggio rifugio alpino Vallorch: location
• Parking lot via Cansiglio: location
• Parking lot Archeton picnic area: location
• Parking lot Pian Osteria: location
• Parking along provincial road: location
• Campon parking lot: location

Taking SP422 from the country of Vittorio Veneto we begin to climb more and more into the surrounding mountains and soon the forest completely engulfs us, going all the way to cover the view of the south-facing Po Valley. The climate is dreary and last night's thunderstorms have created several puddles on the side of the roadway, the green needles of the fir trees around us are still laden with water and it only takes a slight burst of wind to create a slight drizzle on the road. We are now at the gates of winter, the northernmost peaks are already whitewashed and the colors of the vegetation are beginning to fade, let's just hope we are not too late to catch even part of the beautiful autumn tones that a few weeks ago surely completely invaded these places.

As we reach the junction with SP61 and continue straight ahead the forest around us changes completely, the small green shrubs and tall fir trees almost completely give way to spectacular beeches with foliage that is still thick and completely laden with yellow and orange leaves. Instead, the grayness and mud of the ground are almost completely hidden by an endless carpet of dry leaves, with tones tending to dark red. We then continue straight ahead, traversing the dark tongue of asphalt that in its journey is almost submerged by this splendid riot of warm, bright colors. Fortunately we are not at all late for autumn!

Just a few more minutes and the road leads us to the plateau proper, where the forest recedes to give way to wide pastures and several dwellings. In front of us, partially covered by clouds, the rocky peak of Mount Messer dominates the whole area. Straining my eyes a bit, I notice that there is a hint of white along all the higher mountains surrounding the plateau.

Since this is a loop tour the precise point where to leave the car is quite indifferent. The official website marks as the starting point the Sant'Osvaldo refuge, which is exactly halfway up the plateau. Personally, however, I recommend that you continue further, until you reach località Pian Dell'osteria, here it is easy to spot on the right of the road a vast dirt clearing, the point where we decide to start our hike.

Museo dell’uomo in Cansiglio e cultura Cimbra

Even before you put on your boots you will notice a large building now used as a museum. It is the Museum of Man in Cansiglio “Anna Vieceli” and Ethnographic Center of Cimbra Culture, where inside it has been created an exhibition entirely dedicated to the history of man in these territories, with particular attention to the culture and craft activities of the Cimbri, an ethnic group of German origin that settled in these areas in the early 1800s.

Unfortunately, today the facility is closed; in the high season (June-September), however, the museum should always be open, guaranteeing also the possibility to participate in guided tours useful to better understand the history of this plateau, the ancient ways of working with timber, the central importance of the forest in the 16th century for the supply of oars to the fleet of Venice, the events of the first Cimbri settlers, their traditions and their characteristic villages.

Below I refer you to the official website of the museum for any other information: The Culture Center - Cimbri of Cansiglio

Inizio escursione nella Foresta del Cansiglio – Sentiero verso Campon

Leaving the car and putting on our boots, we immediately set out, taking the unnumbered section that points north. There are also several bulletin boards and some signs here, but I find them quite confusing and disorganized. The advice is therefore to have an offline map and have decided beforehand which section to walk.

The path is level, on the edge between the forest and the provincial road, leading us in a few minutes to a picnic area. The sun with its rays is only now beginning to touch this area, thus failing at all to dry the dew that entirely covers the meadow and wets our boots as we pass through. The sky is getting bluer and bluer, and the ominous clouds we saw earlier have almost completely given way to white clouds. A few little birds, hopping between trees, greet us with a sweet song, beyond this however reigns absolute silence. Starting to walk early in the morning is incredibly relaxing.

In this area the forest is dominated by fir trees and consequently it is much more complicated to capture the Foliage, by making a little effort however it is possible to detect a few isolated orange spots here and there. This is enough to get out the camera and start with the first shots.

Within about ten minutes we have concluded this first part of the trail and we find ourselves in the locality Campon, here we cross the asphalt road and start to turn back following the dirt stretch clearly marked as “Anello del Cansiglio”.

From Campon to the village i Pich

At last the trail rises a bit in elevation and begins to prosecute halfway up the hillside into a decidedly more lush forest. The firs give way to tall deciduous trees and the early morning light floods the area making the trees' foliage explode with color. Our boots are pounding a fairly muddy trail, interspersed with short rocky areas invaded by moss and beautiful, mostly dry sections where fallen leaves still give a clear glimpse of their colors.

It is amazing how at every turn a completely new glimpse appears and worthy of being captured in photos:

• now a nice detail on some wet leaves,
• now a long orange tunnel created by low saplings closing in on themselves,
• ora una zona decisamente più aperta ed illuminata, dove il sottobosco è completamente tappezzato da muschio umido.

A stretch of a few kilometers to cover in a few tens of minutes then turns into a very long and pleasant walk, interspersed with lots of photographs and long breaks.

The continuation is absolutely not tiring, characterized by very slight ups and downs and long stretches where the path becomes very wide and continues practically level. After a few kilometers we then reach the edge of the forest, from where small glimpses also begin to open up over the rest of the plain and the snow-capped peaks that surround it.

Coming out of the forest we find ourselves in front of the village i Pich, the site of a restored ancient Cimbrian dwelling. Here a warm sunshine and some perfectly dry rocks create the ideal place for a quick snack and to open the map and consider which trail to continue on. As already anticipated, the trail network is quite dense and just to get to this point we have already encountered countless detours and alternative sections, signage is also not always present, making it absolutely necessary to have a map to be sure about where to turn.

Trekking nella pian del Cansiglio – Il tratto migliore dove cogliere i colori autunnali

Decidiamo di staccarci momentaneamente dal sentiero “Anello del Cansiglio”, che in questo punto virerebbe a destra, e di proseguire dritti, avvicinandosi sempre di più agli ampi prati che ricoprono l’altopiano.

Dopo qualche centinaio di metri su strada sterrata proseguiamo parallelamente ad una recinzione (in questo periodo non ci sono animali) ed immediatamente il mio sguardo viene catturato da una strana macchia colorata lungo il bosco verso il limitare sud della piana. Si tratta più o meno della zona che abbiamo percorso in auto e, vista da questa posizione, sembra che quasi l’intero bosco si sia tinto di uno splendido rosso fuoco! Tiro fuori la mappa e mi rendo conto il sentiero “Anello del Cansiglio” dovrebbe giungere proprio in quella posizione.

So we decide to continue a little more on the dirt road, then deep right, back into the woods and, after a short climb, rejoin the trail that runs parallel to the road in this section.

The landscape in this area becomes truly distinctive: a few hundred meters away from us are the vast green meadows of the plateau, on the left of the trail stretches for a few dozen meters a very thin strip of fir trees, characterized by dense dark green tops, on the right of the trail instead the forest changes again and returns to being a beech forest charged with the warm tones typical of autumn. We walk along following these three stripes of color, as if they were long brushstrokes on the canvas almost as if to unite the lush green of the summer now past, the dark, somber green of the winter to come, and the orange of an autumn that despite the rains is still holding out.

We continue slowly, on a path that is always very easy, captivated by the beautiful beech trees that extend along an uphill slope of colorful leaves to our right and by the various glimpses that open up among the fir trees, allowing us to large sections of the plain and the face of Mount Guslon.

As we reach the end of the plain the forest changes further, now everything is completely orange, the beech trees are growing taller and taller and seem to be competing to see who can get closest to the sky, the ground is dry, the leaves completely cover the path and the direct rays of the sun only charge the whole area with even more color. In front of us stands an immense centuries-old beech tree tens of meters tall with branches growing in every direction. The trunk is covered with beautiful dark bark, with long whitish veins and several areas invaded by a light layer of moss with green tones. The foliage is yellow and orange and wraps us up completely covering the sky, letting through only the occasional faint ray of sunlight that bounces off the leaves and lights up even more with warm tones.

The scorches in this area are absolutely splendid and it is probably for this reason that it is only at this point of the hike that we begin to cross paths with a few other walkers, intent as we are on capturing the beauty of the forest.

After a long pause we decide that it is time to continue, we are not even halfway through the hike. So we pick up the trail again and begin to climb up a slight incline. After a few minutes we find ourselves on a paved road surrounded by different wooden houses, we have arrived at the Vallorch village.

Vallorch Village

This small village is nothing more than what remains of a agglomeration of dwellings of the Cimbri. The first settlement in this specific area is dated 1850 and was founded by the Azzalini brothers, precisely because of the vicinity and the amount of beech wood found near the houses. The structures we see today are unfortunately no longer the original ones, as the village was fired repeatedly during the two world wars, but fortunately also always rebuilt. Currently, there are no permanent inhabitants, the houses are used only as summer residences, one of them being used as a bar/restaurant instead

Strolling in the only street of the village I admire in curiosity the wooden buildings characterized by their typical sloping roof, an architecture certainly distant from what we are used to seeing in the pre-Alpine territory and definitely more similar to that of northern European dwellings.

Descent to the center of the Cansiglio Plain.

At this point the trail briefly overlaps the paved road leading to the village. Hard to understand why, but in this area the leaves on the trees are no longer yellow/orange, but are dyed a intense dark red. Although the scenery because of the presence of the road seems a little less natural I certainly cannot resist attempting a few shots in this location as well, trying to take advantage of the beautiful contrast between the black of the asphalt and the bright red of the leaves.

In a few minutes we reach the alpine hut Vallorch (official website), which gives a very wide view of the southern part of the plateau. From this elevated position it is possible to see clearly the paved road we drove on, the spot where we stopped to eat, and of course the beautiful mountain range that surrounds all the meadows of the plateau.

Per continuare la nostra discesa dobbiamo imboccare nuovamente la strada asfaltata e continuare a camminare, il bosco si fa sempre più rado mano a mano che scendiamo, ma scorci degni di nota non tardano a susseguirsi uno dopo l’altro.

Having reached almost level ground along Via dei Cimbri, we are now near the provincial road traveled this morning. The silence of nature unfortunately gives way to the noise of motors and the chatter of many tourists who have reached this area for the beautiful view and to eat a typical dish in one of the many restaurants. Smelling a pleasant aroma of bread and salami we jot down the name of the place that is serving it (https://maps.app.goo.gl/2EqAnipkMKSaasEA9). Maybe once the tour is over we can drive back here on the way back to grab a bite to eat.

Crossing provincial road SP422 the full loop tour would now turn right, heading up through the woods along the other side of the plain. As nice as it would be to do this part of the trail as well the sun is now going down and it is getting dark. I open the map to find a way to “cut” the trail a bit and get back to the car faster.

Return to the parking lot via the Botanical Garden.

Okay, new route found, to reduce the miles of the complete loop a bit at this point we decide to pursue parallel along SP422 (there is no real sidewalk, but there is still ample space at the side of the roadway).

We then begin to walk along the road for a few hundred meters admiring the plain right from the center and thus being able to capture all of the stretch of forest we walked through this morning. Looking south we also begin to catch a glimpse of the white peak of Mount Pizzoc, this is an area included in the Cansiglio forest and reachable by a path that leads to the Vittorio Veneto Refuge (will be for next time).

Past the large area used as a golf course we turn right along the road that leads to the pic-nic Archeton area. As we continue on the asphalt the colors around us begin to turn more and more golden, the shadows grow longer and the peaks around us begin to glow with color, at the same time a slight breeze also rises and the temperature begins to drop rapidly.

When we reach the picnic area we turn left, following the signs to the botanical garden. In this area, looking to the side of the path, I notice some strange depressions in the ground that are particularly striking, on the Cansiglio plateau there are in fact different chasms of karst origin, the most famous and deepest of all is called Bus de la Lum and unfortunately it is not visible in this position, we could have seen it only by walking the full loop.

We continue straight ahead, accompanied by the various colors that characterize the end of the sunset and the beginning of the blue hour. Looking up into the woods I notice a quick movement in the tall grass, we immediately stop trying to be quiet and within seconds we catch sight of a small deer coming out of the woods and staring at us. Not seeming particularly frightened by our presence we have plenty of time to change lenses and attempt a few shots.

After this pleasant encounter we find ourselves in front of the (closed) structure of the Giardino Botanico G. Lorenzoni, opened in 1972 and containing about 500 different plant species that can be found within the Cansiglio Forest. It would certainly be very interesting to visit it, but it is definitely too late now.

The path now veers to the right and keeps to the side of the botanical garden fence for a few meters, after a series of ups and downs over stony ground a long descent begins that allows us to rejoin a dirt road. We find ourselves in a vast meadowy expanse surrounded by small wooded patches, the sky is now getting darker and the sunlight has gone completely. Around us there is no one, the few huts that can be seen in the distance have their lights off and along the edge of the meadows misty masses are forming and slowly moving toward our position.

I would say that it is now time to get out our flashlights and quickly lead us toward the area where we parked our car. We then continue along the dirt road, which remains practically flat all the time, as we come near a hut we begin to feel the asphalt under our feet and with a few long hairpin bends we gain a few meters of elevation gain. Once again reaching the flat, the road plunges into a dense forest and after a few minutes it rejoins the few houses of the locality Pian Dell'osteria and consequently the parking lot where we left the car. We finally concluded the loop.

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Galleria fotografica – Trekking nella Foresta del Cansiglio

Tutti gli scatti di questa uscita sono anche visibili in alta risoluzione sulla mia pagina Facebook: Galleria fotografica – Trekking nella Foresta del Cansiglio in Autunno

Conclusions and advice - Excursion in the Cansiglio Forest in the Fall

The proposed trail is a slight variation of the Cansiglio Ring, so it is a fairly long trail, but entirely free of special difficulties. The very low elevation gain and the always simple and well-trodden trail make it a trail that can be tackled by anyone, as long as they have a minimum of athletic training.

As already mentioned, the Cansiglio Forest contains numerous other trails that partially intertwine with the proposed path. Therefore, nothing prohibits you from creating a shorter loop thanks to the dense network of trails or finding alternative routes to lengthen or shorten the proposed trail. However, I remind you that the signage is not always clear and that several detours could be confusing, so the advice (always valid in the mountains) is to have a map of the area and have chosen in advance which trail to take.

The trails on the Cansiglio plateau can be tackled in all seasons. Autumn is undoubtedly a special period because of the bright colors that the foliage of the beech trees will take on, however, there is nothing to prevent you from visiting this beautiful forest at different times as well, thus going to capture different colors and contexts.

In case of a hike in winter environment I would instead invite you to assess the snowpack conditions, the practicability of the road and any dangers in the area. In this case, it is absolutely necessary to contact the tourist office and the various huts in the area in advance to understand the feasibility of the route you want to take

Water along the trail

During my walk I found no water sources along the trail. However, it appears that there are drinking fountains at Pian Dell'osteria and at the Archeton picnic area. I recommend using this app to quickly view all the drinking fountains around your location: Review Mapy.cz - The Best App for Hiking (stefanopoma.it)

Recommended period

• Spring
• Summer
• Autumn
• WinterConsider whether snowshoes or crampons are necessary and whether the trail is free from hazards.

Links and useful references

• Official website: Pian del Cansiglio - The portal for discovering Cansiglio (venetoagricoltura.org)
• Trail list: Trails - Pian del Cansiglio (venetoagricoltura.org)
• Map of part of the trail: 5 (venetoagricoltura.org)
• Cimbri del Cansiglio: Home - Cimbri del Cansiglio
• Lorenzoni Botanical Garden: Giardino Botanico “G. Lorenzoni” - Alpago and CansiglioMuseums and Sites Alpago and Cansiglio (museisitialpagocansiglio.it)
• Alpine Shelter Vallorch: ASD Lupi Gufi e Civette | Alpine Shelter Vallorch - Cansiglio Nature Education Center - Alpine Shelter with Catering
• Tourist office: https://maps.app.goo.gl/sCecTqcVfUy6wh48A

PRO and CONS and Evaluation

Webcams in the Cansiglio Forest

There is a webcam in the southern part of the Cansiglio plain: webcam

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