Walk to the larch trees of Cavaion - The Stelvio National Park

A dendrochronological Path

The walk starts at Tabla car-park, in the Val de la Mare. Cross the bridge over the stream Noce and follow the lane to Malga Pontevecchio. After a short distance, you turn left, taking the path that leads up the wooded slope, following it until you get to a crossroads with CAI-SAT path no. 140, which you should follow towards Malga Verdignana.
From the malga you walk down the mule path, sign-posted path no. 140 B, which will take you back to Malga Pontevecchio.

Length: 4,970 m

Drop: 400 m

Time: 2.30 h

This is one of four “Dendrochronological Paths of Stelvio National Park” in the Peio and Rabbi valleys. Dendrochronology deals with the analysis of annual tree rings for the dating of wood and for climatological research.
The analysis of stem-cores taken from living trees, and of cross-sections from old tree stumps, has shown that the oldest Val di Sole larch trees, in the Trentino section of the Park, are found above Malga Pontevecchio at Cavaion and along the path leading to Malga Verdignana. These trees were recruited in the late 14th century, throughout the 15th and at the beginning of the 16th century.
From these ancient larches, a dendrochronological curve has been constructed that, together with the charcoal curve from ancient kilns in the area, has supplied us with a master chronology reaching back over a thousand years. The old trees are witnesses of the Val di Sole climate in the “Little Ice Age” (1580-1850) and during the present period of global warming (from 1850).

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