The Tre Cime di Lavaredo are three rock towers standing side by side on the border between the Veneto and South Tyrol: the Cima Grande, 2,999 metres high, the Cima Ovest, 2,973, and the Cima Piccola, 2,857. In German they are the Drei Zinnen, and the local tourist board calls them the Three Peaks in English. To the south lie Misurina and Auronzo di Cadore, in the province of Belluno; to the north the Tre Cime Nature Park, set up in 1981 by the Province of Bolzano.
From Misurina a toll road climbs to Rifugio Auronzo, below the south faces; from the Puster Valley there are the line 444 bus and the trails. The north side, the one in the photos from Rifugio Locatelli, has a page of its own.
On the map
- 1Tre Cime di Lavaredo Circuit: route, map and timings
- 2Rifugio Auronzo
- 3Rifugio Locatelli
- 4Meridiana delle Dolomiti di Sesto
- 5Versante nord delle Tre Cime di Lavaredo
- 6Gruppo del Popera e Croda Rossa di Sesto
- 7Val Fiscalina
The best-known peaks
- Cima Grande2,999 m
- Cima Ovest2,973 m
- Cima Piccola2,857 m
Elevations from the map (OpenStreetMap).
How the group is built
The three peaks are made of Dolomia Principale (Main Dolomite), in almost horizontal beds you can read on the walls: for the Dolomites UNESCO Foundation they are what remains of a vast tidal flat from the end of the Triassic. They rise from the plateaus of the Piani di Lavaredo and the Piani di Cengia, where glaciers polished the rock and small lakes such as the Laghi dei Piani remain.
From Auronzo you see the south side, from Misurina the south-west side, from which the Cima Piccola is almost hidden. The north faces appear all together at Forcella Lavaredo, 2,454 metres, an hour's walk from Rifugio Auronzo on trail 101, according to the Auronzo and Misurina tourist board. Opposite the three towers stands Monte Paterno, 2,744 metres.
How to get there
From the Veneto the toll road starts near Lago d'Antorno, just past Misurina, and ends at the Rifugio Auronzo car park. It is open only in summer, and since 2025 you can drive up only with an online booking: how it works is in our guide to getting to the Tre Cime.
From South Tyrol, in summer, the line 444 bus runs from Dobbiaco (Toblach) to Rifugio Auronzo and has to be booked in advance. On foot, the 3 Zinnen Dolomites tourist board lists three approaches: the Rienza valley from Landro, Val Campo di Dentro (Innerfeldtal) from San Candido (Innichen) and Val Fiscalina (Fischleintal) from Sesto (Sexten). Near Lago di Landro is the viewpoint the board calls View of the Three Peaks.
Trails, via ferratas and climbing
The most popular Tre Cime circuit starts at Rifugio Auronzo and passes Rifugio Lavaredo, Forcella Lavaredo and Rifugio Locatelli. Between the Auronzo and Lavaredo huts, the Veneto tourist board notes, you can see a dinosaur footprint pressed into a boulder.
A via ferrata climbs Monte Paterno: the Municipality of Auronzo calls it the Innerkofler via ferrata and rates it of medium difficulty; it starts near Rifugio Locatelli and is very busy in summer. The normal routes up the three peaks, by contrast, are mountaineering ascents, with passages up to III- on the Cima Grande and IV- on the Cima Piccola. Other via ferratas are in our via ferrata guide.
First ascents and the First World War
The Cima Grande was first climbed on 21 August 1869 by the Viennese Paul Grohmann, who set out from Landro with Franz Innerkofler and Peter Salcher. The Cima Ovest followed in 1879, with Michel Innerkofler and G. Ploner, and the Cima Piccola in 1881, with Michel and Hans Innerkofler.
In 1933 Emilio Comici and the brothers Angelo and Giuseppe Dimai climbed the north face of the Cima Grande, and in 1935 Riccardo Cassin and Vittorio Ratti that of the Cima Ovest: more historic routes are in our climbing guide.
From May 1915, the Province of Bolzano writes, fighting went on in these mountains for two and a half years, and the plateaus around the Tre Cime are still scattered with shell fragments.
Names, nature park and UNESCO World Heritage
In German the Cima Grande is the Große Zinne, the Cima Ovest the Westliche Zinne and the Cima Piccola the Kleine Zinne; Rifugio Locatelli is the Dreizinnenhütte. The South Tyrolean side lies in the Tre Cime Nature Park, 11,878 hectares, with its visitor centre in Dobbiaco.
Since 2009 the Tre Cime have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the Northern Dolomites system, the largest of the nine, together with the Cadini di Misurina, Cristallo and Sorapiss. The systems are explained on our Dolomites UNESCO page.
Trails in the group
E · HikingMountain huts
2,333 m
2,405 mThings to see
Sight · Val di Sesto (Alta Pusteria)
Meridiana delle Dolomiti di Sesto
Five peaks above Sesto are named after an hour, from Nine to One: the sun passes over them one after another, and the peak it stands over tells you, more or less, what time it is.
Sight · Val di Sesto (Alta Pusteria)
Versante nord delle Tre Cime di Lavaredo
The most formidable face of the Tre Cime, walls that made the history of mountaineering, reached from the Val Fiscalina.
Sight · Comelico e Sappada
Gruppo del Popera e Croda Rossa di Sesto
The wild peaks that close the Comelico to the north, from the Croda Rossa di Sesto to Cima Undici: climbing country, via ferratas and First World War memories.
Sight · Val di Sesto (Alta Pusteria)
Val Fiscalina
A short, spectacular valley at the foot of the Sesto Dolomites, where flat trails run beneath the peaks of the Meridiana di Sesto.
Nearby
Places that fall inside the group’s frame but are closer to another group.
- Lago di Misurina
- Monte Piana e il museo all'aperto della Grande Guerra
- Cadini di Misurina to Rifugio Fonda Savio: among the most cinematic spires
- Lago di Misurina Circuit: an easy stroll at the foot of the Tre Cime
- Monte Piana: open-air museum of the Great War
- Rifugio Fonda Savio
- Rifugio Bosi al Monte Piana
Frequently asked questions
How high are the Tre Cime di Lavaredo?
The Cima Grande is 2,999 metres high, the Cima Ovest 2,973 and the Cima Piccola 2,857, according to the tourist boards on both sides.
Where do you park for the Tre Cime di Lavaredo?
At the Rifugio Auronzo car park, at the end of the toll road that starts near Lago d'Antorno. The road is open only in summer and only with an online booking made in advance; without a car there is the line 444 bus from Dobbiaco, which also has to be booked.
Can you walk around the Tre Cime?
Yes. The most popular circuit starts at Rifugio Auronzo and passes Forcella Lavaredo and Rifugio Locatelli; according to the Municipality of Auronzo it has no particular technical difficulties. Stages and times are on our trail page.
Are the Tre Cime in the Veneto or in South Tyrol?
On the border. The south side, with the road from Misurina and Rifugio Auronzo, is in the province of Belluno; the north side, with Rifugio Locatelli, is in South Tyrol, inside the Tre Cime Nature Park.
Who first climbed the Tre Cime?
The Cima Grande was climbed on 21 August 1869 by Paul Grohmann with Franz Innerkofler and Peter Salcher; the Cima Ovest in 1879 and the Cima Piccola in 1881.
Can you see the Tre Cime in winter?
Yes, but the road to Rifugio Auronzo is closed: you go up on foot, on snowshoes or on touring skis, and there is a snowmobile service from Lago d'Antorno when it is running. The 3 Zinnen Dolomites tourist board advises checking the weather and avalanche report first.