Cinque Torri

The Cinque Torri are a cluster of rock towers standing alone on an open meadow at about 2,250 metres, west of Cortina. There are more than five, despite the name, and they rise straight out of grass with nothing around them.

That isolation makes them one of the most approachable climbing areas in the Dolomites -- routes of every grade, all within a few minutes' walk of a chairlift.

They were also the Italian front line in 1915-17, facing the Austrians on the Lagazuoi across the valley. The trenches, walkways and gun positions have been restored as an open-air museum you walk through for nothing.

The trench works are restored, not original in every stone, and they are maintained by volunteers. Keep to the walkways and out of the revetments; the timber is replaced at somebody's expense each time it is broken.

Do not remove war material. Fragments still work their way out of the ground here, and taking them is both illegal and the reason so little context survives at sites like this.

The towers are actively eroding -- one partly collapsed in 2004. Do not scramble on the bases or shelter under overhangs, and give climbers above you a wide berth; rockfall is the normal hazard here.

The meadow is grazed and is alpine pasture, not lawn. Keep to paths, and close gates.

Using the chairlift rather than the rough toll road keeps vehicles off a track that erodes badly and crosses working pasture.

The site is free: the museum, the trenches and the meadow are all open, unticketed and accessible at any hour.

Most visitors take the chairlift from Bai de Dones on the Falzarego road, about 20 minutes from Cortina, which lands a few minutes' walk from the towers. Expect around 15 euros return.

You can also walk up from Bai de Dones in about an hour and a quarter, or drive a rough toll road to Rifugio Cinque Torri.

Allow two to three hours for the towers and the museum circuit; longer with lunch at one of the refuges.

The museum paths are relatively level on open ground -- easier than most Dolomite sites -- but they are unsurfaced, with steps and uneven rock in the trench sections.

There is no shade on the meadow and no water; bring both.