Cimolais: Mountain Trails and Mill Traces

The area around Cimolais lies within the Parco Naturale Dolomiti Friulane and offers opportunities for hiking, trekking and mountaineering. When planning your visit, you can choose between a striking Dolomite peak, viewpoints, trails along the stream, traces of former milling work and wildlife watching. The specific destinations each highlight different aspects of the landscape and its history.

Dolomite Peak and Viewpoints

In the upper Val Cimoliana, the Campanile di Val Montanaia rises as a 300-metre-high Dolomite peak. It is one of the 19 geotopes of supranational interest in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region. If you want to make this mountain the focus of your visit, the Sentiero dei Belvederi del Campanile di Val Montanaia is a suitable themed trail: it leads to two viewpoints from which you can see the Campanile. Check trail conditions before setting out. This lets you plan around a specific natural landmark and the viewpoints provided for it.

By the Stream: Trails, Meadows and Mill Traces

The Sentiero dei Mulini e Val Cimoliana follows a cycle path along the banks of the Cimoliana stream. It passes the terraced meadows of Bresin, where several old stavoli have been restored, and leads to the remains of water-powered mills and sawmills. These include a restored former sawmill. The Ponte di Lesca is also a destination along the trail: it spans a small gorge carved by the clear waters of the Cimoliana stream.

Here, riverside scenery, terraced meadows and traces of past work come together. The mills and sawmills are remains; the restored former sawmill is part of this historic landscape and should not be understood as an operating mill today. This gives the trail a different focus from a hike primarily centred on views of the Campanile.

Wildlife Park and Former Living Conditions

Parco Faunistico Pianpinedo is a fully enclosed wildlife park covering 35 hectares in the locality of Piana di Pinedo, between Cimolais and Claut. Visitors can observe various specimens of local fauna there. In the same park, the Cason dei Boscaioli faithfully recreates the living conditions of the woodcutters of the last century. Wildlife watching and the portrayal of former living conditions are thus presented side by side as distinct themes.

Trekking and Access

The Trekking delle Bregoline starts in Pian Meluzzo, which can be reached from Cimolais via the Val Cimoliana road. The Trekking da Cimolais a Forni di Sopra also starts there. For this route, access from Cimolais is via the 13-kilometre Val Cimoliana road, which has both paved and unpaved sections. The Trekking forcella Duranno has a different starting point: it begins at Ponte Compol, which can also be reached from Cimolais via the Val Cimoliana road.

If travelling by motor vehicle, bear in mind the toll arrangements. The municipal regulations, updated in 2025, normally allow free travel on the Val Cimoliana road; however, a toll may be charged during certain periods. Check the conditions that apply to your travel dates before setting out.

A Dry-Stone Wall with a Practical Purpose

A long, unbroken dry-stone wall runs along the path to the Chiesetta Alpina di Cimolais. After the war, residents of the valley built it to stabilise the mountain slope and prevent landslides from blocking the path. Its history complements the mill traces and the Cason dei Boscaioli with another form of past work: protecting a slope and the path. As well as mountain and nature destinations, visitors to Cimolais can therefore see structures whose function is directly connected to the landscape.

Discover more destinations: Pasiano di Pordenone, Montereale Valcellina, Valeriano, La Croce, Fanna, Aviano, Pravisdomini, Sequals

For the main travel overview: Pordenone.