Dolomites Gravel Circuit

The Dolomites were the site of some of the highest-altitude combat of World War One — the front ran through the mountains at 2000-3000m, and the Austro-Hungarian and Italian armies both built roads and supply routes into terrain that was otherwise inaccessible. These roads — called Kriegsstrassen or strade militari depending on which side built them — are the infrastructure that makes cycling in the Dolomites possible, and they are extraordinary in a way that most purpose-built cycling routes are not.

The circuit uses these historic roads, connecting them with forestry tracks and the network of unpaved paths between the alpine huts (rifugios) that cover the Dolomites at a density unmatched anywhere in the Alps. The rifugio system means that carrying camping gear is optional — you can stage the circuit entirely through mountain huts that serve hot food and provide dormitory accommodation.

The terrain is defined by the towers. The Dolomites are vertical in a way that the Alps generally are not — the rock faces of the Tre Cime di Lavaredo, the Sella group, and the Marmolada rise from green pasture to 1000m vertical faces with almost no transition. Riding beneath them feels like riding between architecture rather than geography.

The high passes — Passo Giau (2236m), Passo Falzarego (2105m), Passo Pordoi (2239m), Passo Gardena (2121m) — are the structural frame of the circuit. On the main pass roads, traffic in peak season (July-August) is constant. The military roads avoid most of it by using the flanks and upper valleys that the paved roads bypass. The contrast between the tourist-clogged pass summits and the empty military roads 300m below is one of the defining experiences of the circuit.

Most riders take 8-10 days. June before the full tourist season and September after it are preferable to July-August for the pass sections.