Villages such as Maso Corto, Madonna di Senales and Vernago line the Val Senales to the end of the valley, where the glacier rises
Where the Merano area meets the Val Venosta, the Val Senales branches off, extending to the glaciers at the valley's end, where Oetzi roamed millennia ago.
The municipality of Senales, one of South Tyrol's largest by area, encompasses the entire valley beyond its entrance, including the Val di Fosse in the Gruppo di Tessa Nature Park and the surrounding mountain areas. Here you will find Certosa, the main village of Madonna di Senales, Maso Corto, Monte Santa Caterina, and Vernago with its reservoir.
At the end of the Val Senales lies the valley station of the Val Senales Glacier Cable Cars. These transport winter sports enthusiasts to the skiing area on the Val Senales Glacier from autumn through to spring. The slopes of this Alpin Arena Senales are part of the Ortler Skiarena network.
Additionally, there are two panoramic cross-country ski trails. If you are exploring on foot, you can see the world from above from the Iceman Oetzi Peak, the viewing platform at 3,212 metres a.s.l. In Senales, the memory of the past is kept alive: for example, with the centuries-old sheep drove from Madonna di Senales to Vent in Austria in June, or when searching for Oetzi's tracks.
The "Iceman" was found in 1991 on the Similaun Glacier in the Oetztal Alps, 93 metres from the Austrian border, and is now exhibited in the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano. The archeoParc Val Senales active museum - which from 2025 also dedicates an area to the sheep drove -, an alpine marathon, and various events are dedicated to him.
