If we had to pick one season, this would be it. Autumn on the Alpe Cimbra does two things at once: it lights up the forest and hands the paths back to the people walking them. Lake Lavarone stays motionless for hours.
Foliage here is not a brochure word: the spruces stay green while beech and larch turn yellow and copper, and the contrast around the lake is exactly why people come up with a camera. October is the month, with a window that shifts by a fortnight either way depending on how the summer went.
The Vaia Dragon, and why it is not the same one
At Magre di Lavarone, in the middle of the woods, there is a wooden dragon. It is the most photographed thing on the plateau, and almost nobody knows the real story, which is far more interesting than the sculpture.
The first dragon was made in 2021 by the artist Marco Martalar, built from trees felled by storm Vaia, which in October 2018 flattened millions of trees across north-east Italy. A way of taking a disaster and making something you could look at.
On 23 August 2023 it was set on fire. Arson. What was left was a heap of charcoal.
And here the story turns. On 1 July 2024 the dragon came back, larger: 16 metres long and 7 metres high, six tonnes of wood. Inside are the burnt remains of the first one, and the new timber was deliberately charred so the black would show. It is called Regeneration, and the name is not decoration: it is a work that does not hide having been destroyed. It wears it.
Going in autumn, with the forest turning around it, is one of those coincidences that feel scripted.
Getting to the Vaia Dragon
- From Cost: about 30 minutes on foot, the shortest way
- From Gionghi: 45 to 60 minutes
- From Bertoldi: chairlift, then on foot
Closed shoes and time to stop: the climb is not hard, but the forest deserves looking at.
And the rest of the autumn
The lake in autumn is its own chapter, in Lake Lavarone in autumn. On the table everything changes: mushrooms, apples, squash, warm things. That is in autumn flavours in Trentino.
Staying here. Bazzario sits on the shore of Lake Lavarone: you wake up, open the window, and the lake is already there. Eight rooms, all different, none of them looking like a hotel room.
Frequently asked questions
When is the foliage on the Alpe Cimbra?
October is the best month for autumn colour on the Alpe Cimbra, with a window that can shift by about a fortnight depending on the season. Around Lake Lavarone the contrast between evergreen spruce and yellowing larch is particularly marked.
Where is the Vaia Dragon?
The Vaia Dragon stands at Magre di Lavarone, on the Alpe Cimbra, in the middle of the forest. It is about 30 minutes on foot from Cost, 45 to 60 minutes from Gionghi, or reachable from Bertoldi using the chairlift.
Is the Vaia Dragon the original sculpture?
No. The first dragon, made in 2021 by Marco Martalar from timber felled by storm Vaia, was destroyed by arson on 23 August 2023. The current work, unveiled on 1 July 2024, is called Regeneration: 16 metres long, 7 metres high, six tonnes, and it contains the burnt remains of the first dragon.
What was storm Vaia?
Vaia was the storm that in October 2018 brought down millions of trees across north-east Italy, including the forests of the Alpe Cimbra. The timber from those trees was used to build the Vaia Dragon.
