A new geological trail in the Zebrù Valley reveals millions of years of Alpine history.

There are excursions that succeed in a seemingly impossible mission: time travel. This is what happens when you hike the new Val Zebrù geological trail , recently opened within Stelvio National Park. This opportunity goes beyond simple trekking and offers a geological and scientific adventure that allows you to discover several incredible pages of history.

Seven stages, hundreds of meters of elevation gain, and years to traverse: the Zebrù Valley trail, stretching over 12 kilometers, recounts the transformations and evolution of a mountain that was once a beach, then a kingdom of glaciers, and today a symbol of the fragility linked to the environmental emergency.

The inauguration of the new Val Zebrù trail

The newly opened Val Zebrù trail offers a journey through a pristine valley through different geological eras. The hike, open since July 29th, offers a visit to the Stelvio National Park . The project, born in collaboration with the University of Milan-Bicocca and the Geological Sciences and Technologies program led by Professor Giovanni Vezzoli, is designed to make the fascinating complexity of the Alps accessible to everyone.

The route winds along the Giro del Confinale , one of the most evocative itineraries in the Bormio area, and takes curious hikers on a 360-degree immersive experience. From the folds of the rocks to the remnants of the glaciers, each stage is a time travel: starting from the valley floor and arriving at the Zebrù Pass, tackling an elevation gain of over 1,100 meters and traversing the Earth's evolution over millions of years.

Among the most beautiful things discovered during the excursion is an awareness that transcends acquired scientific knowledge and the objective beauty of the place. The explanatory signs, scattered along the seven stages, do more than simply list technical data: they narrate, evoke, and stimulate the imagination. They speak of ancient seabeds now rising to 3,000 meters, of continental collisions that carved dizzying spires, of glaciations that etched the rock like ice chisels.

During the inaugural excursion, Professor Vezzoli emphasized the educational importance of the project: " Val Zebrù is like a giant open book, written in geological language. It's a place that reminds us how alive and ever-changing the Earth is, and how urgent it is to learn to respect it ."

The 7 stages of the journey

The newly developed trail unfolds over seven stages, taking in a wide variety of rock types and landscapes with a guaranteed wow factor. Regardless of your pace, you can stop along the way and enjoy the wonder while experiencing the obvious impacts of climate change firsthand. It extends for approximately 12 kilometers and crosses the stream through woods, pastures, and rocky areas, where you can experience the evolution of time and reflect on the impact of humanity.

If you're looking for more detailed information on what you'll see, here are the 7 stops you'll be able to visit along the 12-kilometer trail:

• Stage 1, the shepherd's hut . At this first stop, the view encompasses two opposing faces of the Zebrù Valley: to the left, the green, living kingdom of dark rocks; to the right, bare, pale walls, witnesses to a different past;
• Stage 2, the Thurwieser Peak landslide . A massive rockfall in 2004 transformed this slope into a living scar, sculpted by time and the shifting of the Earth's crust. An event that reminds us that the Alpine landscape is anything but immobile: it is an organism that breathes, moves, and changes;
• Stage 3, the Triassic Dolomites . Around the Quinto Alpini Refuge, the Dolomite rocks speak of a time when this area was submerged by warm, clear waters. In ancient times, between coral and oxygen-free sediments, rock layers formed that today tell the story of the Alps' underwater past;
• Stage 4, the meeting of Dolomite and Gneiss . Two geological histories overlap: on one side, the light-colored Dolomite, formed from ancient marine sediments; on the other, the dark Gneiss, born from the heat and pressure of the Earth's depths. A spectacular point of contact, where tectonic forces have revealed the complexity of the Alpine subsoil;
• Stage 5, the Confinale fault . A gigantic fracture cuts the Earth's crust like a scar, visible right here. It is one of the many faults that have shaped the Alpine landscape, creating mountains, valleys, and ridges;
• Stage 6, the green rocks . They seem to come from another planet, but they are ancient traces of the bottom of a prehistoric ocean. The green rocks that emerge here are the result of ancient volcanic activity, when magma slowly cooled beneath the sea;
• Stage 7, the retreat of the glaciers . The final stage connects the moraines, ice-shaped basins, and retreating glacial fronts, demonstrating the tangible consequences of global warming. The landscape invites reflection on how our behaviors are impacting the environment.

The promotion of slow and respectful tourism

The trail , which is objectively beautiful, becomes a model of tourism that blends sustainability, emotion, and intelligence. Today, we are in a historical moment in which mountains are suffering the effects of global warming, and offering a path that combines ethics and culture, stimulating critical thinking, is more crucial than ever.

The trail along the Zebrù Valley is truly remarkable for its biodiversity and landscapes, becoming one of the jewels of the Stelvio National Park. Over 12 kilometers long, it hosts high-altitude pastures, larch forests, and numerous animals, including chamois, eagles, and marmots, which, if you're lucky, you might even encounter.

The project aims to educate, raise awareness, and highlight the scars glaciers have left on the rock. It is not only an educational project, but also a warning for the future.

The tourism that the Zebrù Valley geological trail aims to promote is slow , respectful, and contemplative. A type of tourism that doesn't consume, but nourishes: with stories, silence, and questions. And while there's talk of overtourism in the mountains, with trails that have turnstiles to limit access, there are other routes that deserve to be explored with respect.