The Cristallo Group and the Monte Piano majestically frame the mountain village of Carbonin, which is ideal for a summer retreat
Image gallery: Carbonin
As small as Carbonin (Schluderbach) is, it is very important as a transport axis between Dobbiaco and Cortina in the Province of Belluno. The idyllic village once began as a timber trading centre and was called "Al Carbonin" after the local charcoal burners. Farmer Hans Ploner opened the inn "Beim Schluderbacher" here, which soon became one of the most important bases of the then new Dolomite alpinism. Local residents brought visitors to the Three Peaks, and it was Ploner's daughter Anna who was the first woman to reach the summit of the Cima Grande in 1874.
Carbonin is still surrounded by natural highlights: The side valley Valle Popena takes you as far as Lake Misurina, in the south the Cristallo Group towers over the landscape, a little further north lies Lake Landro on the border to the Three Peaks Nature Park. From here it is a short way to the Passo Cimabanche - a pass called Im Gemärk in German and Sorabances in Ladin -, the end point of many bike tours in summer and cross-country ski tracks in winter. The hikes, on the other hand, take you to the Monte Piano or the Prato Piazza, one of the most beautiful high mountain pasture landscapes in the Dolomites. The tour is just as beautiful in summer as in winter.
In winter, perfectly groomed cross-country ski tracks run throughout the municipality of Dobbiaco, also leading past Carbonin: They are part of the largest cross-country skiing carousel in Europe, Dolomiti Nordicski. By the way: There is also Carbonin Vecchia (Alt-Schluderbach). It is a hamlet between Dobbiaco and Villabassa, but it is 15 kilometres away from Carbonin itself. There, the wildlife park is an attraction where Gustav Mahler moved into his composer's cottage at the edge of the forest more than a century ago. Today, raccoons, ibexes, lynxes and eagle owls cavort in the park... and in the middle of it all, numerous children who are thrilled by the colourful animal world.
