Montanaia Valley Bell Tower Belvederes Trail

The trail starts from the highest area of the parking lot of the Pordenone Refuge. In the first section it runs along the hydrographic right of Val Montanaia, at the base of a rock wall located at the edge of the large scree that occupies the valley. After a few hundred meters you reach a junction where you must turn left. The trail begins to climb up the slope with a series of switchbacks. You pass through a predominantly beech forest in which firs and larches are also present and where, not infrequently, chamois are encountered. After a relatively steep first section the slope softens and the first viewpoint is reached. Continue for another 5 minutes to reach the second, wider one. These two viewpoints allow observation of the Campanile della Val Montanaia: one of the rare examples of a spire found in Friuli Venezia Giulia. About 300 meters high, it represents a "dolomitic" morphology related to erosive phenomena, particularly those connected with the presence of the glaciers that until about 10,000 years ago covered these valleys, shaping their current shapes. We descend again on the path taken uphill to the fork; here we turn left to resume climbing the Val Montanaia. After about a hundred meters the trail reaches the scree and crosses it diagonally (presence of cairns) continuing to climb. Upon reaching the opposite bank, a marker arrow indicates the branch of the trail leading to the Pordenone refuge. The trail descends to the hydrographic left, breaking away from the scree (which remains on the right) and after about two hundred meters enters the woods. The descent continues into the woods, steeper and with some switchbacks, to the refuge. From the hut the trail descends again to the scree and after crossing it leads to the departure parking lot.