Bletterbach Dinosaur Trail

The visitor centre of the GEOPARC Rio delle Foglie in Aldino is the starting point for the hike along the new Dinosaur Trail, a short trail of about one kilometre that is particularly interesting for families and is dedicated to the animals that fascinate children so much: the dinosaurs. The circular trail was opened in June 2022 and now offers a good alternative for a short excursion into times gone by without the need to descend into the bed of the Rio delle Foglie stream.

The Bletterbach Dinosaur Trail lets you immerse yourself in the time 260 million years ago and then return to the present at the playground of the Lahneralm: The alpine hut is owned by the municipality and is a popular place to stop for refreshments in this part of South Tyrol. A total of nine stations on the Dinosaur Trail tell of large and small dinosaurs, of horsetails and ferns, of traces in the rock and volcanic eruptions.

In 2015, the work "Vertebrate Ichnology - tracks and trails, consumption, digging and reproduction, geoconservation" was published by the palaeontologists Lucas G. Spencer (New Mexico Museum of Natural History), Adrian P. Hunt (Flying Heritage and Combat Armor Museum, USA) and Hendrik Klein (Palaeontological Museum, DE). This scientific reference work lists significant trace fossil finds from around the world, including those from the Rio delle Foglie Gorge.

Longer tours in this area, however, include the ascent and hike through the Rio delle Foglie Gorge and the hike across the alpine pastures of Aldino.