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The Regglberg is a high-altitude plateau rising above the eastern shores of the Etsch / Adige River. If you choose to ascend from Leifers / Laives to Deutschnofen / Nova Ponente, you'll land in a landscape of alpine meadows. Here you'll find plenty of rest-stop options – too many, in fact, since you couldn't possibly stop for a break in every inn and cafe situated along this challenging and long tour.
This tour is challenging, but allows you to explore the east of the Etsch / Adige Valley, on the fringe of the foot of the Dolomites. The meadow landscape at the Regglberg between Deutschnofen and Aldein / Aldino resembles a verdant carpet stretching out in front of the impressive Latemar – from the perspective of Kaltern, the nearest outpost of the Dolomites, this most-prominent peak looms 2,842 meters above sea-level. But to approach it, you'll have to constantly pedal. The first milestone of your journey is the Mitterberg / Monte di Mezzo, accessible via the little Pass Road and the Kreither Saddle and then into the Etsch / Adige Valley. After a couple of relatively level kilometers, you'll reach Leifers / Laives, where the Branten Valley indicate the continued upward direction. At the upper end of the Branten Valley, you'll find the town of Deutschnofen / Nova Ponente perched on a high-altitude plateau. There is a path in the valley basin for your ascent, but the winding trails on the north flank of the valley offer more scenic beauty and are just as quick – besides giving you more panoramic views towards Deutschnofen. You will now proceed upwards into the rolling meadow landscape. You've mastered the steep uphill grade; now, it's a constant up and down. This route offers beauty and variety, and every couple of kilometers, you can take a rest-stop at one of the many charming inns and cafes along the way: the Laabalm, the Neuhütt-Alm, the Schmiederalm, or the Schönrast-Alm. In view of this wealth of options, you might be tempted to spend too much time here – but don't forget: The return leg is still ahead of you! The trail will first take you down into the Etsch Valley. But because the direct way from the Regglberg into the valley is possible only via very steep trails that are best traversed on foot, you'll have to instead take a slight diversion and follow the trail along the former Fleims / Fiemme Valley railroad, which displays a pleasant downhill grade at Montan / Montagna. And you'll be treated to spectacular scenery along the way: First, there's the unobstructed view of the valley, then the rolling terrain of the Castelfeder biotope with its mystical medieval cult site. Once you've arrived in Auer / Ora, you can traverse the Etsch River and quickly reach Lake Caldaro. On warm summer days, you could now take a pleasant dip at Klughammer. After a refreshing dip, you'll be ready to attack the final 200 meters of altitude differential from the lake up to Kaltern / Caldaro.
You start by taking the biking trail to Bozen. (ATTENTION: When you're at the wineries, be sure to take the biking trail past at the vintage locomotive, towards Bozen – NOT the path to Lake Caldaro!) Once you've arrived in Bozen, you should continue following this biking trail along the Etsch / Adige River until you have left the lively provincial capital behind. The contrasting landscape forms you will see over just a few kilometers as the crow flies are now enormous. The flank of the Etsch / Adige Valley rises steeply – e.g., uphill towards Kohlern / Colle or into the Eggen / Ega Valley (which derives its name from the eponymous brook which has to cut its way through a deep gorge to attain the Etsch River). In actual fact, it's only two or three kilometers – as the crow flies – from the outskirts of Bozen, from the busy autobahn, or the hustle-and-bustle of the Staatsstrasse, and you're already in another world. But you have to steadily pedal up winding roads in order to reach this peaceful oasis in the Eggen Valley. But one mustn't oversimplify the character of the Eggen Valley; rather, this region embraces not only the valley, itself, but also an extensive area including ridges, high-altitude plateaus, and side valleys. And it's on one of these ridges north of the Eggen Brook that you find the astronomical observatory. If you take this tour and pedal from the Etsch / Adige Valley via the village of Karneid / Cornedo uphill to the forest chapel at the "Kasererbild," you'll be rewarded with completely peaceful segment along a side street with only little traffic, and will also have mastered 1,000 meters of altitude differential. But you might want to wait a little bit longer before taking a rest-break – that's because you have almost reached the lookout point at the observatory, and the small road to it soon exits the forest, affording you a marvelous panoramic view. And the descent from the observatory is a highlight of this tour, when you speed down the road, negotiating hairpin curves on your way to Birchabruck / Ponte Nova on the valley floor by the Eggen Brook. The road continues with a moderate uphill grade to Deutschnofen / Nova Ponente, one of the region's main centers. This town is located on an extensive high-altitude plateau west of the mighty Latemar. The road remains at this elevation (about 1,300 meters above sea-level) for a few more kilometers when going south via Aldein / Aldino to the Staatsstrasse, which in turn leads to the neighboring Fleims / Fiemme Valley. En route to this destination, you can also take a side-trip in Petersberg to the Maria Weissenstein Place of Pilgrimage (2 km, 100 meters of altitude differential). This side-trip should be interesting not only for the devout, but also for hungry travelers – because there's also an inn next to the monastery. Behind Aldein, you can continue on the main road not to the left into the Fleims / Fiemme Valley, but rather to the right, for a quick descent into the Etsch / Adige Valley. You'll reach the valley floor in Auer / Ora. Now there's a nasty little surprise coming up for you: The Kreither Saddle – nicknamed the "Coyote Pass" – which offers an additional 170 meters of altitude differential between the Etsch River and Lake Caldaro. And then there's also the final ascent from the lake through the Lavason Valley to the wineries and on through the Bahnhofstrasse to the market square of Kaltern / Caldaro. But in comparison with the Kreither Saddle, this final ascent is relatively tame.
Variants: In the Eggen Valley, you can take a short cut and glide along the Staatsstrasse from the valley towards Bozen / Bolzano. In doing so, you'll have to navigate two tunnels (with a length of 600 and 2,800 meters, respectively) and watch out for the traffic. On the saddle, we recommend setting your light to flash.
The bike trail goes trough the wine villages Eppan, Kaltern, Tramin and Kurtatsch up to the country frontier at Salurn on traffic-calmed streets. The tour is appropriate for all kinds of bycicles, but is the most fun to ride on e-bikes or racing bikes.
The route starts at Eppan and leads on the cycle path and the lake loop road to the Kalterer lake and onwards to Tramin. Towards the village you’ll find a rise. Take it and follow the Weinstraße until you reach Margreid and Kurtinig. In all of those villages you’ll find plenty of possibilities to stop for a bite to eat.
Arriving at Salurn, change the downhill side and follow the hillslope until you come to Laag. From there you can take the cycle path along the Etsch in a northward direction up until the spot where the rivers Etsch and Eisack are meeting. There you turn left and follow the old railway track of the Überetscher railway until the initial point in Eppan.
This is a challenging gravel tour in which you will proceed from the shore of the Etsch River via a demanding ascent to this hidden pass. In the Etsch / Adige Valley, it will take you to Salorno / Salurn, on the border to Trentino and then disappears in the quiet forest behind the cliffs which sharply demarcate the Etsch / Adige Valley on the eastern side.
The start will help you limber up and warm your muscles. From Kaltern / Caldaro, you'll roll down at a fast pace to Lake Caldaro. From the southern shore of the lake, you'll quickly reach the Etsch Valley Bicycle Trail. Here, you will follow the river another 10 km – with a tailwind, if you're lucky – and soon reach Salorno / Salurn, the southernmost settlement in South Tyrol. But that isn't entirely true – because just before you come to it, there's a forest road representing a short-cut to the road up to Gfrill / Cauria, a peaceful hamlet 1,000 meters above the valley. That is the decisive ascent of this tour – because you'll have to master another 200 meters of altitude differential on forest trails to the saddle – with an average grade of 10%. This is then followed by a descent of 400 meters on the other side on gravel trails in the forest as you approach Gschnon / Casignano. This is the perfect place to take a short side-trip (one kilometer in each direction) to the "Kanzel," an extraordinary lookout point high above the Etsch Valley. A street leads from Gschnon to Mühlen and into the valley through which the Truden Brook runs steeply down into the Etsch / Adige Valley. You'll follow it uphill till you get to Truden / Trodena and gain another 300 meters of altitude differential along the little valley road. The descent from Truden into the Etsch / Adige Valley represents the highpoint of this tour, with regards to beautiful landscape. The gravel trail along the former Fleims / Fiemme Valley railroad will take you down to Montan / Montagna. ATTENTION! The entrance to the tunnels can be a little daunting – built-in motion sensors will first have to detect your presence before they switch on the lights. After you've exited the final tunnel, the landscape will open up, and you'll be treated to a sublime view of the Etsch / Adige Valley – the most-spectacular of which is on the viaduct near Pinzon / Pinzano, a looped bridge which the engineers used to elegantly smooth out the necessary hairpin curve of the railroad in the somewhat steeper area of the slope. Then you'll be treated to the Castelfeder biotope, an ancient cult site which is certain to catch your eye against the surrounding landscape. Extravagant geological formations and enormous boulders left behind by receding glaciers are scattered about at various elevations. The wild, romantic hilly landscape has lost none of its magical appeal. Castelfeder is the subject of numerous legends and stories. The so-called "Kuchelen" on the highest level are the remains of a ring wall dating back to the Early Middle Ages. This is an ideal place to pause for a breather and enjoy the scenery. Or to prepare for the next segment. That's because the trail from the Etsch / Adige Valley, Lake Caldaro, and uphill to the center of Kaltern represents another 200 meters of altitude differential to be managed.
Variants: If you'd like to enjoy some sightseeing in Salorno / Salurn, you can also take the ascent to Gfrill / Cauria from the center of Salurn. However, that entails more time on the streets. If you'd like to take a short-cut, proceed from Mühlen and follow the Truden Brook downhill until you return to the main trail just before you pass the small hamlet of Glen prior to the viaduct.
