Over 31,000 hectares of forests, dolomite rock faces and wild valleys on the doorstep of Belluno and Feltre: the Dolomiti Bellunesi National Park is one of the most precious natural areas in the Dolomites, and today also a UNESCO World Heritage site.
A park born to protect the heart of the Belluno Dolomites
The Dolomiti Bellunesi National Park was established by ministerial decree on 20 April 1990, while the Park Authority was set up in 1993. In 2008 the original boundaries, drawn on relatively coarse maps, were redefined by a new decree that adopted more detailed cartography, bringing the Park’s limits closer to the real shape of the land.
It covers more than 31,000 hectares, entirely within the province of Belluno, between the Cismon river to the west and the Piave to the east, and touches the territory of 15 municipalities: Belluno, Feltre, Pedavena, Sovramonte, Cesiomaggiore, San Gregorio nelle Alpi, Santa Giustina, Sospirolo, Sedico, Ponte nelle Alpi, Longarone, Val di Zoldo, La Valle Agordina, Rivamonte Agordino and Gosaldo. Within its boundaries, eight state nature reserves (including Vette Feltrine, Piani Eterni-Errera-Val Falcina, Monti del Sole and Schiara Occidentale) alone cover around 16,000 hectares and belong to the Council of Europe’s network of biogenetic reserves.
A land of peaks, valleys and hidden waters
The Park’s landscape is dominated by some of the most striking massifs of the Belluno Prealps and Dolomites: the Vette Feltrine, the Cimonega group, Pizzocco, the Monti del Sole and, above all, Schiara, which at 2,565 metres is the highest peak in the protected area and one of the symbols of the Belluno landscape, visible even from the city of Belluno.
Beech, fir and larch forests, high-altitude pastures, rock faces and near-inaccessible environments sit alongside striking glacial valleys such as Val Canzoi, with its Lago della Stua, and the remote Piani Eterni, one of the wildest and least visited corners of the whole Park. There are also geological curiosities such as the Cadini del Brenton, a series of potholes carved by water into the limestone rock, reachable with a short walk from a nearby botanical garden.
🦌 A mosaic of wildlife
The Park is home to 56 recorded species of mammals, 26 of which are protected under the EU Habitats Directive, plus as many as 16 species of bats. Chamois, red deer and roe deer populate the woods and pastures, while marmots, stoats, pine martens and badgers roam the higher slopes. In recent years wolves and lynx have returned as stable presences, and since 2014 the elusive wildcat has also been recorded.
The Park’s skies are ruled by the golden eagle, but eagle owls, black woodpeckers, capercaillie and hazel grouse also fly among the peaks, the latter a species particularly at risk. In the streams and at higher altitudes you can find alpine newts, fire salamanders and the horned viper, typical of sunny rocky environments.
🏔️ A UNESCO-recognised heritage
In 2009 the Park became part of the serial Dolomites UNESCO World Heritage site, as a component of the “Pale di San Martino – San Lucano – Dolomiti Bellunesi – Vette Feltrine” system. This recognition rewards not only the landscape and geological value of the area, but also its extraordinary botanical richness: over 1,400 vascular plant species recorded, including the Moretti’s bellflower (Campanula morettiana), a flower endemic to the Dolomites chosen as the Park’s symbol.
The eight state nature reserves scattered across the protected territory safeguard its most intact and least accessible environments, true laboratories of biodiversity in the heart of the Belluno Prealps.
🥾 Three places not to miss
Val Canzoi and Lago della Stua, in the municipality of Cesiomaggiore, are the most popular gateway to the Park: a turquoise lake surrounded by wooded slopes, and the starting point for hikes towards Piani Eterni.
Cadini del Brenton, in Sospirolo, is a sequence of potholes and pools carved by the stream into the limestone rock, reachable with a short and evocative walk next to the Park’s botanical garden.
Piani Eterni, among the wildest plateaus of the Belluno Dolomites, offer an almost lunar landscape of sinkholes and high-altitude pastures, home to chamois and golden eagle, far from the busiest routes.
How to visit the Park
The Dolomiti Bellunesi National Park offers visitors a network of information points, refreshment areas and environmental education centres spread across the territory: from the Pian d’Avena information point in Pedavena, to the Candaten (Sedico) and Pian Falcina (Sospirolo) centres, to the Dolomiti Bellunesi Natural History Museum in Belluno and the Ethnographic Museum of the Province of Belluno in Cesiomaggiore. Up-to-date information on trails, opening times and activities is available on the official Park Authority website.
Mountain lovers can follow the network of trails that crosses woods and high-altitude terrain, while those who prefer cycling will find, on the Park’s edges, routes such as the one over Croce d’Aune, on the Vette Feltrine — the pass where, in 1927, Tullio Campagnolo had the intuition that would go on to revolutionise world cycling.
A heritage to discover, one step at a time
The Dolomiti Bellunesi National Park is much more than a boundary on a map: it is the outcome of thirty years of care for a unique territory, where nature, geology and human history are intertwined. To learn more about the bond between these mountains and the history of the area, you can also read our articles on the History of the Belluno Dolomites and on 15 places to see in the Belluno Dolomites, or discover some of its less crowded corners in our feature on the Dolomites without overtourism.
Sources: Dolomiti Bellunesi National Park Authority and Wikipedia.