From Cortina centre take the Faloria cable-car up to Mandres intermediate station.
Wear your snowshoes and start hiking along a well signposted road. After a level stretch, descend for a few hundred metres, then follow signs for CAI trail No. 220 to Fraina, leading through a beautiful thin larch forest. These trees, as all conifers do, love light and sun and prefer terrain subject to landslides as those crossed by this itinerary.
These woods are home to the red squirrel. These cute rodents build their nests up the trees to avoid becoming the meal of birds of prey. They mainly feed on pine and broad-leaved seeds, fruit, barks, eggs, and small insects.
With little elevation gain you reach “Ra Crepedeles”, the cliffs where you can see the “Door of the Silvan God”, a huge rectangular-shaped niche visible on the rocky face, theatre of numberless legends and fairy-tales. A steep descent leads to a vast clearing above the Meneguto Farmhouse, where the hike ends.
Remove your snowshoes and walk along the road to Baita Fraina for a well deserved rest.
Continue downhill for 10 minutes as far as Cojana, where you intersect the former railway path to return to Cortina.
Though we feel a tour guide is not necessary, hiring a mountain guide for your complete safety is always a good idea.
Rest stop: Ristorante Baita Fraina: Ph. +39 0436 3634
