Rifugio Tuckett
A hike lasting around 3 hours, one of the best in terms of the ‘effort-to-reward’ ratio
A classic walk through the Dolomites, accessible directly from Madonna di Campiglio.
Summary of the route
The start, from Grostè on path 316
The walk from the cable car to the Rifugio Tuckett takes about 1 hour and 20 minutes. The route does not present any mountaineering difficulties, but the walk can be challenging due to the unusual terrain. This section, in fact, winds its way between a slab of dolomite smoothed by the glacier, which forms the terrain for the first few metres, and a second section over moraine boulders.
Beauty and nature all the way to the Tuckett Hut
Facing the hiker, on the other side of the Campiglio Valley, lies a large part of the gigantic glacier that winds its way between the mountain ranges of the Rhaetian Alps of the Adamello and Presanella.
After about an hour and a quarter, you reach the centre of a curious glacial cirque, crowned by a succession of Dolomite towers and peaks. Here lies the Tuckett Refuge, at an altitude of 2,272 metres, surrounded by Castelletto, Sella, the tower of Cima Massari and Cima Brenta.
To go down, take path 317
After a stop at the refuge, the walk continues along the No. 317 downhill path; here, the going gets easier and easier as you move from rocky terrain towards vegetation and the rock gives way to hard-packed earth.
After 45 minutes, you reach the edge of the larch forest, the first sign that you are no longer at the altitude of the rocky walk: here you will find the Casinei Mountain Hut at an altitude of 1,826 metres, a crossroads and a mandatory stopping point for every mountaineer accessing the Brenta Dolomites from Madonna di Campiglio.
The final stretch of our hike starts from the Casinei Mountain Hut, from where you can descend to Vallesinella via the steep beechwood path no. 317 (around 40 minutes) or opt for path 317 bis, which descends alongside the headwaters of the Sarca di Vallesinella river.