Route 4: Tofana di Rozes circular route
Time:	4- 5 hours (1 hour and a half more for the Grotta di Tofana and Castelletto Tunnel routes).
Height difference:	800 metres.
Best period of the year:	June-October (March-April for the Tofana Cave).
Main sights and points of interest:	The biggest attractions of the route around the Tofana are very definitely the impressive and massive mountain faces, but also the geomorphology, the flowers and the history of the area. The trail develops along one of the most strongly contended fronts of the Great War. In the spring, the Tofana Cave is a natural spectacle not to be missed.
Difficulty:	The main itinerary requires crossing the gap at the bottom of the Masarié on a rung ladder (Minighèl Ladder); this stretch can however be avoided. The alternative Tofana Cave and Castelletto routes are in turn equipped for brief stretches and require the use of a torch. To transit along all these stretches, iron fitting are required. An ice-axe and crampons are needed to enter the Tofana Cave in the spring.
How to get to the starting point:	From Cortina proceed west along State Road no. 48 of the Dolomites towards the Falzarego Pass as far as km.108.5; park on the right in the large open space alongside the roadman's house.
Excerpt from "Tabacco" map scala 1:25000:	Click to enlarge

General description

From the roadman's house, follow trail no. 412 as far as the big bend in the war road that leads to the Col dei Bòs fork. Proceed upstream and pass through a short tunnel.

The surrounding crags are rich in flowers of various species, some of which particular and endemic to the Dolomites. The wide grassy valley above is home to a large herd of chamois, which spend most of the year in this area.

Follow the bends as far as the end of the road and proceed along the trail as far as the depression that precedes the Col dei Bòs pass; this is one of the best preserved roads of the Great War in terms of structure and dry walls, skilfully made by the Italian army.
Now take trail no. 404, that runs along the entire width of the bottom of the great Tofana di Ròzes face, before joining, further on in the Valón de Tofana, the road that leads up to the Fontananegra fork.

Many wild flowers can be seen along these faces as well. On the lower walls below the trail, royal eagles and wall creepers nest.

Two alternative routes can be taken across the bottom of the Tofana di Ròzes.

The first is the Castelletto circular route through some of the most important tunnels of the First World War dolomite front (Goinger tunnel and Cannone tunnel); the Goinger tunnel is over 500 metres long, is helical shaped and leads on to the pass between the Castelletto and the Tofana, where on 11 July 1916 a large mine exploded, creating a big hole in the mountain. From the pass, it is possible to reach the large valley further behind and return to the Col dei Bòs fork.

The Tofana Cave on the other hand is an enormous natural cavity, between 10 and 30 metres high and over 300 metres long, that opens just a little above the base of the wall where a recess exists in the south face.

In the spring months, daily freezing and unfreezing creates hundreds of multiform ice stalagmites on the floor of the cave that rise vertically up towards the numerous drips on the roof of the cave; this is a truly unique natural wonder that is easy to visit.

From the Giussani hut to the Fontananegra fork, the descent starts to the opposite Masarié valley, literally disseminated with large erratic blocks of rock left by the last ice age; towards the end of the road, this begins to twist and reaches the sill of the valley, where the Minighèl Ladder permits crossing the underlying gap.

This is the first iron-rung trail built in the Dolomites in 1907 by the manager of the von Glanvell hut in VaI Travenanzes, subsequently destroyed during the Great War; it is a succession of 274 rungs fastened along the side of a vertical face that extends upwards for about seventy metres. It was produced by the difference in excavation depths of the large quaternary glacier of Travenanzes and the less active side glacier, enhanced in the spring months by a beautiful and substantial waterfall.

The Minighèl Ladder can be avoided by overcoming the right sill on an oblique narrow ledge and completing a wider circle along the easier route. The end section of the Val Travenanzes now remains to be covered. This too is dotted with erratic blocks, skilfully dug into and used as weapon pits during the war. Moving along the west face of the Tofana di Ròzes and through snow covered valleys of great natural beauty, one comes to the Col dei Bòs fork and the trail already covered on the outward journey.