The Tofane

The best-known peaks

• Tofana di Mezzo3,244 m
• Tofana di Dentro3,238 m
• Tofana di Rozes3,225 m

Elevations from the map (OpenStreetMap).

How the massif is built

The park describes the Tofane as one of the most massive mountains of the Ampezzo Dolomites. At the base lies a fragile band of red and grey clays; above it rise the walls of Dolomia Principale. Where the clays erode, the walls lose their support and collapse into the scree.

Three glacial cirques still hold snowfields. On the east side lies the Ra Valles basin, which ends in a sheer drop above Cortina to the south. To the north, Val Travenanzes, with no roads or huts, separates the massif from the Fanes Group. In the clays above Rifugio Dibona, Triassic amber has been found, among the oldest known in the world.

Going up

The Freccia nel Cielo leaves from Cortina, on Via dello Stadio, with a large car park next to the ice stadium. A gondola takes you to Col Drusciè, 1,778 metres, then two cable cars climb to Ra Valles and Cima Tofana. The operator puts the ride at 30 minutes. In summer 2026 the lifts run from 13 June to 27 September. What you see from Ra Valles is on our Tofane page.

The south side is reached by car: from the SS48 towards the Falzarego Pass, at the Fedarola junction, a road climbs to Rifugio Dibona, unpaved on the last stretch, with a large car park. From the Falzarego the cable car goes up to Rifugio Lagazuoi, facing Tofana di Rozes. Buses and hotels are on our Cortina page.

The via ferratas

The best known is the Lipella, on Tofana di Rozes. From Rifugio Dibona, trails 403 and 404 lead to the start, inside the Castelletto tunnel: 500 metres long with 120 metres of height gain, walked with a head torch. The ferrata reaches the fore-summit at 3,027 metres; the normal route leads to the top at 3,225, and you descend via Rifugio Giussani. Cortina's tourist site recommends it for experienced hikers: you may find snow and ice even in summer.

The others start from the lifts, and the Freccia nel Cielo operator lists them with via ferrata kit mandatory. Without a kit, it suggests the Talking Rocks trail (Sentiero delle Rocce Parlanti) from Ra Valles and the Rescue Permafrost trail up to Bus Tofana, at 2,770 metres. More routes are in our via ferrata guide.

• G. Aglio via ferrata, high difficulty: along the ridge to Cima Tofana, 3.5 hours, down by cable car
• Formenton via ferrata, medium difficulty: on the ridge between Tofana di Mezzo and Tofana di Dentro; as of 17 September 2026 the operator lists it as closed
• Olivieri-Punta Anna via ferrata, high difficulty: from Rifugio Pomedes to Punta Anna, 2,731 metres
• Olivieri protected path, low difficulty: from Pomedes to Ra Valles, 280 metres of ascent

The Great War

The front line ran across the Tofane. According to the park, the Forcella Col dei Bos area below Tofana di Rozes was a key sector: fortified boulders, trenches and the Castelletto mine tunnel remain, where the Italian mine was detonated on 11 July 1916 to take the Castelletto. On the ridge, the Formenton passes cavities dug by soldiers, and from Ra Valles the Ra Zestes trail follows the old communication trenches down. Facing the group, between the Lagazuoi and the Cinque Torri, lies the open-air museum.

Winter, names and UNESCO World Heritage

In winter the Tofane belong to the Tofana-Cinque Torri-Lagazuoi area, one of the two in the Cortina ski area. This is where you find the Olympia delle Tofane, the course of the 1956 Olympic downhills and of the women's alpine races in 2026, and the Skyline gondola links them to the Cinque Torri.

German and English sites also call them Tofane or Tofana. The Dolomites UNESCO Foundation places them in the Northern Dolomites, one of the nine World Heritage systems. The park that protects them was established by the Veneto Region in 1990, is run by the Regole d'Ampezzo and, on the highest ridges, points out an endemic plant, Saxifraga facchinii.

Nearby

Places that fall inside the group’s frame but are closer to another group.

• Altopiano del Pralongià
• E-bike Tour on the Pralongià Plateau in Alta Badia
• Ski Touring to Col de Locia: skinning up from Capanna Alpina, Alta Badia