In the uninhabited Val di Fosse, within the Gruppo di Tessa Nature Park, a mountain pasture adventure trail begins
Image gallery: Val di Fosse
.JPG)
Wild and unspoilt, yet often visited during the summer months - this is the Val di Fosse, a side valley of the Val Senales, located entirely within the Gruppo di Tessa Nature Park. A narrow mountain road branches off to the right after Monte Santa Caterina and leads up to the first farms. Beyond this point, you can only continue on foot or by mountain bike.
Today, the Val di Fosse (Pfossental) is a popular destination for hiking and mountain biking, with the 3,480-metre-high Altissima towering at the head of the valley. For millennia, ice, water, and wind have shaped the landscape here. The stations along the Val di Fosse Adventure Trail vividly narrate the valley's history and its rich diversity of flora and fauna.
It is considered one of the most beautiful sections of the Merano High Route and offers impressive views of the giant peaks of the Texel Group in the Central Alps. There is a high chance you will see chamois, ibex, or golden eagles here. The tour starts at the Maso Casera di Fuori, or Vorderkaser, car park and passes the Maso Casera di Mezzo and the Rableid Mountain Hut. These mountain farms are no longer permanently inhabited but are operated only in the summer.
From the 13th to the 19th century, one of these, the Maso Gelato farm, was one of the highest permanent settlements in the Alps. From here, you can reach the neighbouring Val Passiria via the Rifugio Petrarca all'Altissima and the Passo Gelato on foot or as an MTB tour. Today, from May to autumn, the Maso Gelato farm serves as a base for hikers and mountaineers.
