The Puez-Odle Nature Park covers 10,729 hectares and stretches from Passo delle Erbe (Würzjoch) in the north to the Gardena Pass in the south. To the east it reaches Val Badia, as far as Longiarü and Antermoia; to the west it touches Val di Funes and Val Gardena. The Province of Bolzano established it in 1978 and enlarged it in 1999. In German it is the Naturpark Puez-Geisler.
The Province presents it as an open book on the Dolomites: within a few kilometres you find every rock type, every fault and every erosion form that elsewhere lie scattered. On top, above the walls, is a plateau with almost no vegetation, which the Province itself describes as a lunar landscape.
Here you will find how it is built, what you see, where to enter and what is different from the other parks. The rules that apply to every Dolomite park are in our guide to the nature parks of the Dolomites.
Two faces: spires in the north, desert in the south
The northern part is the one with the spires. The Aferer Geisler, the Villnösser Geisler and the Sas de Pütia (Peitlerkofel) are made of Schlern Dolomite, which here forms summits, towers and rock teeth: the Province compares them to the teeth of prehistoric giants. Below, the base is Val Gardena sandstone and Werfen beds, softer, which carry forest and meadows.
The southern part is the opposite: the plateaus of Crespëina, Gherdenacia and Puez, capped by Main Dolomite. Karst has opened gorges, badlands and crevices, and water sinks underground at once: only cushion plants and dwarf shrubs survive. The Muntijela and Col dala Sonè, the Province writes, look like isolated volcanoes on the pale plateau.
In between stand the Puez group with Vallunga and the Cir group, and above Corvara the Sassongher. Our pages on the two groups, Odle and Puez, cover the peaks one by one.
Why they call it an open book
In the Dolomites, the Province explains, the original sequence of beds has stayed readable, and in this park it reads better than anywhere else. It starts with the Val Gardena sandstone, up to 300 metres thick, formed by erosion in a desert climate: you see it from the Passo delle Erbe road, reddish, on the scree of the Pra de Ćiampać below the Sas de Pütia.
Above come the Bellerophon formation, 200 metres of beds named after the fossil gastropods it holds, the Werfen beds, the Schlern Dolomite and the Raibl formation, impermeable, which protects the dolomite below and feeds the spring line of the waterfalls in Vallunga. On top, on the plateaus, lie the Puez marls of the Jurassic and Cretaceous, the youngest rocks in the park, rich in ammonites.
Two details are visible as you walk. The most important fault is the Funes Line. And on the Puez-Gherdenacia plateaus there are summit overthrusts: the older Main Dolomite has been pushed over the younger marls. The rock itself is named after Déodat de Dolomieu, who in 1789 first described its chemical composition.
What you see: alpine farms, stone pine forest, wildlife
The forest belt sits at the edge of the park. In the Pütia group, at Passo delle Erbe and in the Selva della Rodella there are wide Swiss stone pine woods, with natural regeneration the Province calls almost unique in South Tyrol. In Vallunga the wood is open, of spruce, larch and stone pine, and a few young trees reach 2,400 metres: higher up only dwarf mountain pine remains.
The meadows are the richest part. In spring, near Malga Zannes, pasque flowers, snowbells, bird's-eye primrose and crocuses come out; in the larch meadows of the upper Longiarü valley and in Vallunga there are lady's slipper orchids, martagon lilies and red lilies. The alpine farms of the park above Zannes are the easiest way to see them without climbing high.
The animals follow the belts. Chamois live in Vallunga and around the Ruefen and Eores Odle, roe deer in the clearings near Malga Zannes, red deer migrate from Passo delle Erbe to the Luson valley. Capercaillie live in the Pütia forest, marmots on the slopes of the Cir and on the Medalges and Cisles pastures; ptarmigan stay all year on the Gherdenacia and Stevia plateaus, and golden eagles circle over the Odle and Vallunga.
Where to enter and where to leave the car
The park has one gate per valley, and in none of them can you drive in: the roads stop at the edge.
From Val di Funes you drive to the head of the valley, to Zannes (Zans), where the car park marks the start of the Adolf Munkel trail, which runs below the north faces of the Odle. The visitor centre is lower down, in Santa Maddalena, and at Zannes there is also the Dolomites UNESCO information point: as you leave the building, the Province writes, you cross the threshold of the park.
From Val Gardena you enter through Vallunga, behind Selva, and from the Col Raiser and Seceda lifts above Santa Cristina and Ortisei. From Alta Badia you climb from the Gardena Pass and from Colfosco towards the Gherdenacia, or from Longiarü, where the path to the park passes the eight water mills along the stream between Frëina, Seres and Miscì. In the north the gate is Passo delle Erbe, at the foot of the Sas de Pütia.
The rules that apply here
Like every South Tyrolean nature park, Puez-Odle is protected by a landscape decree, and the Province's single page of rules applies: dogs under close control and never roaming free, drones banned, no tents, no open fires, all plants protected, mushroom picking as a rule forbidden.
One ban belongs to this park alone: the decree forbids bikes on the Odle trail, that is the Adolf Munkel trail. If you are planning a mountain bike loop in Val di Funes, that section is closed to you. The detail, with the lists for the other parks, is in our nature parks guide.
The history: Ladins, mills and World Heritage
The park was created in 1978 and enlarged in 1999. Except Funes, all its municipalities are of Ladin origin, and the Province gives as much space to the human landscape as to the natural one: until the Val Badia road was built in 1892 the valley lived off what it grew, and the architecture of the viles — mushroom-shaped houses, whitewashed masonry below and timber above, a shallow larch-shingle roof — stayed the same for centuries.
Since the summer of 2009 the park has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The system that carries its name, Puez-Odle, covers 7,930 hectares and lies entirely inside the park boundary: one of the few cases where the two maps nearly coincide. The park is also a Natura 2000 area.
The visitor centre in Santa Maddalena is built around geology: you walk on an aerial photograph of the park, and the room called Touching the mountains displays the rock types and the bedding. There is also a room on mountaineering, with a film by Reinhold Messner, who comes from Val di Funes.
Inside the park
Hikes
E · Hiking
T · Easy / Tourist
E · HikingTrail · Val Gardena
Col Raiser and Rifugio Firenze: trekking at the foot of the Odle
2 h 30↑ 300 m8 km
E · HikingTo see
Sight · Val Gardena
Altopiano del Seceda
The most photographed ridge in the Dolomites: the Odle peaks rising over the Seceda plateau, minutes from the cable car arrival above Ortisei.
Sight · Val di Funes
Belvedere di Santa Maddalena
The viewpoint behind the most famous postcard of Val di Funes: the village and its church in the meadows, with the long arc of the Odle closing the horizon.
Sight · Val Gardena
Centro storico di Ortisei
The pedestrian heart of Val Gardena, where Ladin culture and a centuries-old wood-carving tradition meet under the arcades, in the shops and in the cafés.
Sight · Val di Funes
Chiesetta di San Giovanni in Ranui
The little baroque church with the Odle peaks rising behind it: one of the most photographed views in the Dolomites.
Sight · Val di Funes
Malga Glatsch e i pascoli del Puez-Odle
An alpine dairy at almost 1,900 metres at the foot of the Odle, reached on a gentle walk through the forest: a good easy hike and a fine stop for local food.
Sight · Val Gardena
Ortisei
The main town of Val Gardena: a pedestrian center, woodcarving workshops, and the lifts that take you up to Seceda and the Alpe di Siusi in minutes.
Huts
1,902 m
2,040 mFrequently asked questions
- How big is the Puez-Odle Nature Park?
- 10,729 hectares, according to the Province of Bolzano fact sheet, shared between seven municipalities: Funes, Ortisei, Santa Cristina, Selva di Val Gardena, Corvara in Badia, Badia and San Martino in Badia. The difference between its lowest and highest point is 1,499 metres.
- When was the Puez-Odle park established?
- In 1978, by a landscape protection decree of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano, and enlarged in 1999. It is the second of the four South Tyrolean Dolomite parks by date, after Schlern-Rosengarten in 1974.
- Where does the Puez-Odle park begin and end?
- From Passo delle Erbe in the north to the Gardena Pass in the south. To the east it reaches Val Badia, at Longiarü and Antermoia; to the west it touches Val di Funes and Val Gardena. The north holds the Aferer and Villnösser Geisler and the Sas de Pütia, the south the Gherdenacia and Puez plateaus with Vallunga and the Cir group.
- Where do you enter the Puez-Odle park?
- From Val di Funes you leave the car at Zannes, at the head of the valley, where the Adolf Munkel trail starts. From Val Gardena you enter through Vallunga behind Selva, and from the Col Raiser and Seceda lifts. From Alta Badia you climb from the Gardena Pass, from Colfosco and from Longiarü. In the north the gate is Passo delle Erbe.
- Can you cycle in the Puez-Odle park?
- Not everywhere. The park decree bans bikes on the Odle trail, that is the Adolf Munkel trail; in the other South Tyrolean parks the banned sections are listed in their own decrees. The Province advises using the official mountain bike routes.
- Where are the visitor centre and the information point?
- The visitor centre is in Santa Maddalena, in Val di Funes, a few minutes' walk from the Vergin bus stop: in 2026 it opens from 5 May to 31 October, Tuesday to Saturday, 9.30 am to 12.30 pm and 2.30 pm to 6 pm. At Zannes, at the head of the valley, is the Dolomites UNESCO World Heritage information point, open in 2026 from 24 April to 8 November, 9.30 am to 6 pm, closed on Mondays and on Fridays from 12.30 pm. Both are free.
- Does the Puez-Odle park coincide with the World Heritage Site?
- Almost. The Puez-Odle UNESCO system covers 7,930 hectares and lies entirely inside the park boundary, although the park is larger, at 10,729 hectares. It is one of the few places in the Dolomites where the two maps overlap this well.