The Col Rodella Trail locates in the beautiful Val Gardena valley in the Dolomites in Italy. The Col Rodella, the starting place of this trail, offers spectacular views to Sella Group, Sassolungo and Marmolada. It is one of the most visited peak in the area because the place is easy to access. Many great trails are starting from this place. In this article I introduce a trail from Col Rodella to Wolkenstein. Some trails starting here are level S3-S4 but this is one of easiest. I will cover more difficult trails in the coming articles.
The trail’s highest point reaches 2.393m so it is not ridable through the whole year. Of course it depends about the snow situation, but to be on safe side, the best season is from the beginning of June till end of September. It can be muddy after the rain, but you can still ride it if you are not scared to get dirty. The trail is partly under heavy use by bikers and hikers so I don’t think riding it when it is muddy cause any further damage. To be able to ride this trail you don’t need to have a long travel Enduro bike. An Enduro bike is a bit overkill for this route even you can reach easily very high speed in some stages. Although the trail runs mainly in open terrain the views are not exceptional. Only in the first kilometers views are something you want to marvel at.
The route starts from the different place than where it ends. There are no many possibilities to adjust this trail if you don’t change the route totally. Naturaly you can ride whole trail on a maintenance road, but then you lose all fun. I would recommend this trail as a finishing or transit trail. It is not a trail that I would select to be the highlight of the day. By riding this trail alone you have to stay in Wolkenstein otherwise you have to go back to where you started.
To get to Col Rodella you have three options but only one is directly with a lift. This gondola departs from Campitello di Fassa. With two other options you do not get directly to Col Rodella. You can use a bus up to Passo Sella or a lift from Wolkenstein to Ciampinoi. If you select one of these options it doesn’t make sense to clime up to Col Rodella. Only if you want to see some nice views then it make sense to clime up. For these two other options the optimum starting point would be the Passo Sella. However, this shortens the trail quite a lot.
I divided the trail into three stages. For me the best stage is the first one because this is real trail riding. If whole trail would be like the first stage it would be perfect. The second stage is mix of a maintenance road and ski slope. The third is similar like the second before the entry into Wolkenstein where last 500m or so is riding on the paved road. The second and third stages are a bit boring but if you like speed then this is your place. The trail is not very challenging or difficult although you can reach very high speed if you don’t touch your brakes. The trail is not extremely steep and mostly it is S2. Without steepness it would definitely be S1.
The first stage from the gondola station till 2.7km follow a nice hiking trail. You are going to ride only short sections on the maintenance roads. This stage is not heavily used by hikers even area is very popular for hiking. Although after the Sella Joch Hause you can expect more traffic because the Malga Sella hütte, where the first stage ends, is very popular place to visit. I can strongly recommend the Malga Sella hütte for a short stop. The stage is not steep if you don’t count first few hundred meters from the gondola station. Mostly the stage is S2 and some sections are even S1.
The second stage from the Malga Sella hütte till 5.8km you are going to ride on a maintenance roads and ski slopes. If you are speed junky this is your stage. The stage is steeper than the first section and you can reach high speed. So don’t touch your brake levellers if you want to test your limits. The trail is not very demanding and therefore steepness do not create any challenge. Mostly the stage is S2 and without steepness I would definitely rate this section S1.
The third stage from 5.8km till finish is following a ski slope and paved road before your arrive Wolkenstein. Steepness is similar as in the second stage but here you find some water canals. So you have to master the technic how to overcome those if you want to test your speed limits. The trail is not very demanding and therefore steepness do not create any challenge. Mostly the stage is S2 and without steepness I would definitely rate this section S1.
Description
Experience: 
Condition:
Technique:
Parking
There are two options to park your car, depending where you start. If you go up with the gondola from Campitello di Fassa then the parking place next to the gondola station is a recommended place. If you go up by the bus or cable car from Wolkenstein then you can park at the cable car station.
Lifts
Eat & Drink
2 km, Sella Joch Haus (restaurant)
2,5 km, Malga Sella (hütte)
I can recommend the Malga Sella hütte even for one beer. Service is very friendly and views are exceptional. Don’t expect that you can get a gourmet menu. It is a hütte and not a five Michelin start restaurant, but definitely worth to visit. I can strongly recommend their ham and cheese plate together with wheat beer.
GPX
MTB LIFE blog 