Cima del Cacciatore / Kamniti Lovec Bike & Hike

Overview

The summit of Cima del Cacciatore / Kamniti Lovec is a splendid panoramic point, one of the best in Julian Alps. The ascent from Monte Santo di Lussari / Svete Višarje is a short and only on the last part more demanding hike-up, so the summit is often visited. But a marked path reaches it also from the south, from Sella Prasnig / Prašnik saddle. The fact that this saddle can be reached by a cart-road from both valleys, from Valbruna on the west and from Valle di Riofreddo / Dolina Mrzle vode on the east, imposes an obvious idea: to do a round mountain bike tour Tarvisio - Valbruna - saddle - Valle di Riofreddo - Tarvisio, and from the saddle hike-up on top.

Route Description

Bike on Sella Prasnig / Prašnik saddle

Sella Prasnig / Prašnik saddle

You start anywhere in the main valley, let's say in Tarvisio. See the main page of Cima del Cacciatore / Kamniti Lovec how to get there.

By the main road and special pistes you bike from Tarvisio, 760 m, up on Sella di Camporosso, 817 m, and further towards the mouth of Valbruna valley, 790 m. From there you bike towards the S into Valbruna / Ovčja ves village, 810 m, and further up into the valley. After passing the big camping place, 890 m, you deter left, on the macadam road towards Rifugio Pellarini. Now you bike in the SE direction, just below the lower station of the material cable-car there are a few steep parts, where you might need to walk instead of ride-up. Some 300 m before the station, a mountain road deters left, 1120 m. There is no inscription on it (in the year 2008), because the marked path on Sella Prasnig / Prašnik saddle goes up much before. The mountain road is on many places steep again, but parts of it can be biked-up (depends on your strength). The biggest problem is a rough gravel on the road. Towards the N and after crossing a side ridge towards the E, we reach the creek bed of Canale Klinken, 1275 m, then a few more turns await us, and finally we are on the saddle, 1491m.

Hike-up on Cima del Cacciatore / Kamniti Lovec

A good path leads us from the saddle towards the N. First over a meadow, then through a forrest and across another meadow. Soon the non-marked path on Malga di Lussari deters towards the right (inscription), going around the whole mountain by the eastern side. We proceed up and on the altitude of some 1620 m reach the crossroads. The path No. 617 continues towards the left (over a saddle and then towards Monte Lussari), but we deter right towards the top (inscription). Now we hike-up through beautiful light woods, having all the time in retrovisor the great panorama of Jôf Fuart. On good 1800 m we reach a nice grassy balcony, from which the summit is seen for the first time. Now the path starts crossing the slopes on the eastern side of the ridge. First it descends a little, then it starts ascending lightly again. When reaching the summit rocks, the path turns left and starts going up very steeply. Wherever the terrain is crumbly or rocky, the path is protected with steel cables. It approaches the main summit from the left, so from the west. In 1 h 30 min from the saddle we reach the top.

The path is good	The last 250m	Enjoying panorama

In Valle di Riofreddo / Dolina Mrzle vode	The start of a steeper part of bike-down

Bike in Valle di Riofreddo / Dolina Mrzle vode

After returning on Sella Prasnig / Prašnik saddle, we continue by a much weaker cart-road. But it is not so crumbly, so we bike more easilly. The road first even ascends a bit, all the time towards the south, then we descend on a beautiful mountain pasture, 1504 m. Only now the real ride down begins. The road into the valley is very steep, so you need to drive as slowly as possible, braking with all your strength. On a few places also this road is unfortunately covered with a rough gravel, there you need to be careful even more. On such a descent you lose more than 450 m of altitude, and only then the valley flattens. Now a beautiful biking through the flat Valle di Riofreddo / Dolina Mrzle vode awaits you. On the right a lively creek is tempting, you can enjoy nice scenery. In Riofreddo hamlet the valley ends and you reach the asphalt road in Val Rio del Lago / Jezerska dolina. There down it goes really fast all the way to Tarvisio.

Difficulty Grading

The biking part is very hard, but I'm not an expert on rating biking routes. Gear: A mountain bike (can be done with the usual one too). The hiking part is a medium hard hike-up, 600 m of altitude difference, 1 h 30 min. The path is well marked, on all crossroads there are inscriptions. On the upper 150 m the path is an easy ferrata. Gear: good shoes and poles. For the tour altogether you will need some 7-8 hours.