Val Fiscalina Tre Cime

Thu 18/9/25

After breakfast of fried rice which we cooked at the apartment, we drove a short drive of 20 minutes to the Rotwand parking lot. We read from the reviews that this parking lot was free of charge. Anyway, we only wanted to do a short hike to Val Fiscalina, which would only take about 1 hour one way.

breakfast fried rice and sandwich as packed lunch

It was indeed very beautiful , so we stopped a lot for pictures. We already arrived at Val Fiscalina at Rifugio Fondavalle at 9.45am, it was at this spot the decision had to be made whether to proceed the hike up or return back to the parking lot.

the trail no. 102 to Val Fiscalina

Val Fiscalina trail

Val Fiscalina trail views

reached Rifugio Fondavalle at 9.45am

Since it was still early, I decided to hike up, only until I get the first glimpse of Tre Cime and then return back, since I had already paid for the parking for tomorrow. I thought it would only add up about an hour. We took the 102 trail

start of the climb

Boy was I wrong. But I didn't know why I kept on moving, not wanting to give up until I get the first glimpse. It was all the way climbing upwards, but I was feeling optimistic today so I kept on going. Of course, the beautiful views of the mountains kept me motivated. 

By 12 noon I still didn't see Tre Cime. So I decided to stop and have a break. We sat on a bench under the hot scorching sun, eating our sandwich, but the views are beautiful. Other hikers didn't stop and they kept on going.

almost 12 noon - no glimpse of Tre Cime yet

It turned out that, just 15 minutes from the spot where we stopped for lunch, we could see Rifugio Locatelli and Tre Cime in the background! I suddenly could walk faster lol! I was so happy that I managed to reach the view point after almost 3 hours of climbing!

Tre Cime and Rifugio Locatelli in the background

Lago dei Piani and Tre Cime in the background

Finally we reached Rifugio Locatelli and Tre Cime so close in the background at 12.40pm. We stopped here to take pictures, enjoying the views and our hot tea. We spent an hour here before turning back the same way all the way down to the carpark. At the view point here we could see so many people walking at the opposite side of Tre Cime, which is actually the route from the EUR40 parking lot, which was a lot nearer and with less climbing.

enjoying views of Tre Cime

close up view of Tre Cime

We arrived back at the Rotwand parking lot at 4.15pm. Today I clocked in a total of 21.3km, with 1097m elevation gain, in 6 hours 42 minutes. Wow, I didn't know I could manage that. But my legs and toes were really hurting already lol.

Vas Fiscalina route

Tre Cime route

We quickly returned back to the refuge of our apartment, rested and then prepared dinner. We rested for the rest of the day, tired but proud of our achievement (especially for me)