Hike to Lago Di Sorapis & Rifugio Vandelli In The Dolomites

The hike to Lake Sorapis and Rifugio Vandelli is a nice day hike for all abilities of hiker.

The trail starts from the roadside, on the road that leads from Cortina d'Ampezzo to Misurina. You'll see a gravel area at the side of the road where you can park - but get there early in the high season as there's very limited space.

The first part of the trail is almost completely flat. It's a fairly wide trail that takes you out through the woods, passing a couple of old war bunkers in some of the rocks. We did need to cross a few snow fields on this section in May, but by June they should be clear.

Once you reach the end of the flat section, the uphill section begins. The trail narrows here and starts to climb quite steeply with short switchbacks, which then lead to a few metal staircases on the steepest sections. Whilst not technically challenging, I wouldn't recommend these for anyone who doesn't like heights.

Once this steeper section is over, it's only another 20 minutes until you reach Rifugio Vandelli. The lake behind it (Lago Di Sorapis) is a beautiful turquoise blue colour during the summer months (it was still frozen when we visited in May).

The trail was in pretty good condition when we did it in May, but we did come across a few places where fallen trees blocked the routes. Being the off-season, these were a bit of a problem, but I'm pretty sure that during the main hiking season when the rifugio is open (mid-June to September) the trail is kept clear.