There’s not a single hectare of land in the Fanes-Senes-Braies Park that isn’t worth exploring – and the Nature Park has over 25,400 of them. Whether you’re setting off on foot or on a bike, embarking on a quick half-day excursion or multi-day hut expedition, the park is always worth a trip and at the same time the ideal testing ground for the Design & Innovation Award.

It’s not without reason that the Fanes-Senes-Braies Nature Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The distinctive mountain landscape shows the Dolomites in all its facets and reveals its most beautiful side. Whether you’re a hiker or mountain biker, there’s a lot to explore. With an overall elevation gain of 1,929 m, the park features several steep routes for the fittest riders. Of course, not everyone wants to try and ride (and carry) their bike all the way up to the Cunturinerspitze or Hohe Gaisl summits, which lie at an altitude of over 3,000m. The more accessible high plateaus of the Fanes-Senes-Braies nature park can be reached with a mountain bike and offer breath-taking views over the surrounding mountain range.

The 200 km mtb trail-network is only exceeded in length by the 300 km hiking-trail network. If you want to roam freely around the nature park without sticking to a planned route, you’ll inevitably end up on one of the four themed trails. Sometimes right next to your route and sometimes tucked away inside the forest, you’ll come across several carved wood-signs and info boards that narrate the local Fanes saga. Even without info boards, you’ll be constantly reminded of the ancient history of this place and inevitably come across remnants of its culture and traditions.

The Fanes-Senes-Braies Nature Park is one of the most water-rich areas in the region, which allows you to navigate the countless picturesque streams and emerald-green wild lakes. After a heavy rainfall, you’ll come across countless water streams across the path.

While it’s impossible not to feel humbled by such a majestic landscape, you’ll never feel alone around here. When you’re not bumping into fellow riders or hikers, you’ll enjoy the company of cows, goats and even horses, peacefully grazing on the mountain meadows. That’s exactly what makes this secluded park the optimal travel destination for people who want to unwind and disconnect from the stress of daily life. Numerous mountain refuges and juicy meadows invite you to linger and relax just a bit longer while contemplating the landscape or embarking on a multi-day hut-hopping tour.

However, we just used the huts as checkpoints to recharge our batteries, let our gaze wander over the landscape, take notes about our riding impressions and share our thoughts with our fellow testers – after all, we’re not here to have fun. How much fun was it to ride here? Does the bike or product we’re testing live up to the expectations? Does the equipment work as promised by the manufacturer? Has the manufacturer promised too much and did the product fail to impress in practice? All submitted products are put through the wringer before they can be awarded the Design & Innovation Award.

All test rides start on the doorstep of our homebase, the Hotel Excelsior in San Vigilio in the municipality of Marebbe. Despite having just 1,500 inhabitants, it’s the largest “comune” in the nature park. For touring riders, the path to the Pederühütte offers long-lasting impressions of the contrast between barren mountain landscapes and green alpine pastures. This first section runs on simple singletracks and gravel paths, which gives the testing team a good insight into the long-distance suitability of touring and mountain bikes. Always in front of our eyes, the mountains and climbs lie right ahead of us and look inaccessible by bike, but we don’t get discouraged that easily.

Always with the eyes on the goal, we start our climb towards the Limojoch and the Limosee, which lies at an altitude of 2,160 m. Once you made it through the serpentines below the Faneshütte and managed to bite through the last few vertical metres, you should take your time to soak up the breathtaking landscape! Even with a motor, almost 1,000 meters of elevation gain on this terrain is physically demanding.

If you spare some time on your way back from Pederü, you can take a detour through the high valley to Lake Braies: wind your way along majestic rock faces and forget you’re already at an altitude of 1.500 m. Our test lap leads back past the Faneshütte and the Pederü refuge. All the effort you put in on the climb pays off on the fun singletracks you’ll be riding while making your way back into the valley – which is one more reason to keep your eyes peeled on the way up to spot the ideal line for later! If you want to see the legendary landscape for yourself on your bike, you can download our favourite tours from our Komoot Collection and ride them.

Words: Photos: Valentin Rühl