Val di Genova

Val di Genova cuts south-west from Pinzolo toward the Adamello massif, a glacial trough where the young Sarca river drops through conifer woods in a chain of cascades — the Nardis waterfall alone falls about ninety-five metres from the Presanella glaciers above.

Why it matters

Pinzolo's tourism portal gives this valley a double title: the valley of waterfalls and the gateway to the Parco naturale Adamello - Dolomiti di Brenta, the largest protected area in Trentino. For the park the portal itself quotes about 50,000 hectares threaded by 450 kilometres of mountain paths, while the provincial authority, which confirms the park as Trentino's most extensive, measures it at some 61,800 hectares. The park authority calls Val Genova the valley of waters. The valley pairs dramatic waterfalls with the glaciated walls of the Adamello and Presanella groups above.

What to notice

The Cascata di Nardis, described by the park authority as the valley's welcome, is fed by the Vedretta del Nardis glacier on the Presanella group. Its water drops about ninety-five metres in white sheets. The Cascate di Lares send spray over the river corridor. The Sarca runs clear and fast between smooth rock walls shaped by glacial action. Conifer woods, footbridges and the meadows of Malga Genova mark the valley floor. Water, woodland, rock and pasture belong to one system: ice above, current below.

Context and history

The valley is the work of ice. Glaciers from the Adamello massif gouged this trough south-west of Pinzolo, and their remnants on the Presanella side still feed the Nardis fall today. Its low meadows have long served mountain farming, with the Malga Genova huts marking the pastoral history of the valley. Protection came with the Parco naturale Adamello Brenta, which the campiglio dolomiti tourism organisation now presents as the Adamello Brenta Geopark; within it, the valley forms a distinctive corridor between the lower Sarca and the high glacier country. The falls have given the valley its popular identity — la valle delle cascate — a name carried on the town's own portal rather than invented by guidebooks.