This circular route, highly recommended during the winter season with snowshoes for its beauty and ease of execution even in the presence of snow, is one of the most beautiful itineraries to do in half a day starting from the village of San Martino di Castrozza.
The itinerary starts a few hundred meters north of Maso Còl, at the beginning of Path No. 23 / 724 which gently climbs along the edges of the wide meadow of Còl. After the first slight ascent, you reach the broad and scenic basin of Prati Còl (1,510 m asl), where you can enjoy an impressive and magnificent view spanning from the peaks of Cimon de la Pala to that of Val di Ròda. Following a path that leads directly to the Forest Refuge hut (1,551 m asl), the route proceeds along the ridge, leaving Prati Còl behind and entering the forest on the north-west side of the Val di Ròda. After a short ramp leading to the farmhouse, from the Forest Refuge the route continues along Path No. 724 towards Malga Civertaghe, possibly the wildest section of the itinerary, constantly accompanied by the silence of the upper Val di Ròda and views opening in the vegetation on the eponymous peak. Having crossed the Rio Val di Ròda stream, the path continues south along the edges of the Paneveggio Pale di San Martino Natural Park, reaching in a few hundred meters the junction with the “Sora Rónz” forest road, which descends gently to arrive, after two wide hairpin bends, at the pastures of Malga Civertaghe, preceded by the artificial hydropower basin of Civertaghe. From Malga Civertaghe (1,375 m asl), the return proceeds along a very short stretch of the flat forest road heading north towards Val di Ròda. About a hundred meters after leaving the meadows of the hut, a sign indicating San Martino di Castrozza / Còl shows the way to Path No. 23 leading back to Prati Còl. The path continues uphill along Path No. 23, entering the forest climbing the south-eastern slopes of Val di Ròda and leading to the characteristic wooden bridge that crosses Rio Val di Ròda before one last fairly steep ramp that climbs back up to Prati Còl.
