Returning to Campill

The Alps are so vast that a single lifetime isn’t enough to get to know all the different natural areas, challenging tours, or the cultural diversity of the individual regions. Alongside many deliberately chosen travel and tour destinations, this time it was pure coincidence that led me to Campill in the valley of the same name in the Dolomites.

We were on our way back from Tuscany during the peak summer season and wanted to explore some new areas in South Tyrol. In this ‘Corona summer’, the area around the Val di Fiemme, Val di Fassa, and Val Gardena was overcrowded, so we drove further north in search of a quieter, more remote spot. We finally found it at the end of a side valley of the Val Badia, near Campill by the Puez-Odle Nature Park. Campill, or Lungiarü in Ladin, is no unknown insider tip; it is one of the mountaineering villages and is committed to sustainable, nature-oriented tourism, in harmony between nature and the traditional man-made management of the Alpine cultural landscape, such as timber and alpine farming. So, by chance, I ended up on tours in three mountaineering villages this year – Sachrang, Kreuth, and Campill.

We spent two relaxing days in the latter, with short hikes through refreshing mountain forests and alpine meadows below the sheer rock faces of the Puez-Odle Group. Until then, I only knew the mountain group from the Val Gardena side, from childhood holidays with my parents: hikes up the Seceda, to the Puez Hut, across the Crespeina plateau to the Cir peaks, and much more. Unfortunately, the time available in summer was too short, and I decided to return soon for longer hikes and scenic summits. I was able to fulfil this wish as early as autumn of the same year and visit the Puez-Odle Nature Park again.