rising to the ridge | how to visit seceda

8.5 mi . 2650 ft gain . 8235 ft high

Parco Naturale Puez-Odle

Seceda is by far one of the most iconic locations in the Dolomites and here’s all my tips on visiting this famous spot. When I visited, it was a last minute itinerary change where it became a sunset hike, rushing to finish before dark and realizing lifts weren’t open to minimize our hike. But we’ve learned so much more since then and here’s what you need to know.

Where is Seceda

It’s in the northwestern part of the Dolomites of Italy. Though I’ve had a lot of difficulty discerning the edges of parks since there’s natural parks, the UNESCO park, national parks, local parks and there seems to be lots of overlaps. But Seceda is best accessed from Val Gardena, a valley of 3 towns situated between Bolzano and Cortina d’Ampezzo and is home to so many stunning views.

To see the iconic ridgeline, it’s best accessed from either the town of Ortisei or Santa Cristina.

Fun fact: Val Gardena is a South Tyrol region with both German and Italian influences, but its primary language is Ladin, a local language that is unique to this area. So for all the road signs, they’ll have locations posted by the Ladin name, then German, and lastly Italian. 

How to Get to the Seceda Ridge

There’s a couple methods to get to the Seceda ridge, depending on how much hiking you want to do and what time of year it is.

Easiest: Gondola

Taking the Seceda Cableway is the most expensive option, but the easiest way when you are pressed for time. It costs 52€ for an adult round trip ticket. The cable car starts in the town of Ortisei and there’s parking next to the gondola if you are driving. Once you’re at the top, it’s an easy walk to Secëda-Alm, the high view point of the ridge.

Medium effort: Hiking + Lift

You can also take 2 separate lifts via Col Raiser Cableway (32€ round trip) and Fermeda Lifts (27€ round trip) from Santa Cristina.

But to cut the cost, you can combine hiking with a lift. Park at Cristauta-Praplan, a trailhead just above Santa Cristina. The roads are narrow and sometimes only fit one car wide, so be careful! You have to pay for parking here. As of writing, it cost 2€/hour or 8€/day for 8am-6pm parking. We went at sunset so we paid for 2 hours from 4-6pm.

The hike begins right away either on the gravel road or the parallel hiking path (Trail 4). It is quite mellow with a slightly bigger uphill (Trail 1A) towards the start of the Fermeda lift. If it’s open (it wasn’t for us in the fall), you can take the lift up and decide if you want to hike down or take the lift down to reduce the cost.

High effort: Hiking

There’s so many trails to choose from. If you don’t have a car, you probably have to start from a town if you don’t want to take a gondola. But the shortest direct trail is starting from the Cristauta-Praplan carpark (don’t forget to pay!).

Follow Trail 4 along through some gates and take 1A up past the Fermeda lift all the way to the top. The signs are very good, but it’s okay if you get a little lost — anything uphill works! I highly recommend using a tracking system like Gaia so you don’t get too lost. For a nice loop, we reached the summit and then walked along Trail 6 and 1 to reach Trail 4 again.

Best Time to Visit Seceda

Seasons

Summer to fall is absolutely the best time to visit when there’s no snow on the mountains. Summer is great for seeing Seceda with green grass, but fall is good for fewer people. You can also visit in the winter, but winter also comes with its dangers as snow is slippery. I think it would be very fun to ski here with the great views, but you’d have to wait for the lifts to open. Winter provides a special kind of magic.

Time of Day

I personally think morning and sunrise is the best, but I did visit in the evening. The light on Seceda was hard to capture but the surrounding mountains looked amazing at sunset. Avoiding mid-day is best to also avoid the biggest crowds. I only saw about 5 people total when I went for a fall sunset hike here, leaving just as the alpenglow hit the mountains.

Bonus: Backside of Seceda

If you didn’t know, the back side of Seceda is the view you get from Geisleralm. You can reach it by driving around to Val di Funes and technically there are trails that can get you up and over the ridge as well, though generally you need to be well equipped and trained to do so.

Last Notes

• For more Dolomites activities, check out my Guide on Cortina d’Ampezzo
• Val Gardena hiking map can be found here
• Val Gardena cable car map can be found here

Photos taken on Canon R5