Antonio Segni Alpine Garden
Rifugio Vazzoler | Taibon Agordino | Dolomites
The Antonio Segni botanic garden is an educational path created in 1968 by the Conegliano Section of the Italian Alpine Club (CAI) nearby the well-known Rifugio Vazzoler in the Civetta mountain range (Dolomites UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site, Municipality of Taibon Agordino, Province of Belluno, Veneto Region).
The exhibition area of the A. Segni Botanic Garden covers an area of almost 5,000 square meters, whose entrance is located a few steps far from the Vazzoler Alpine Hut, which is mainly famous for being one of the suggested accommodation facilities for the hikers involeved in the Alta Via delle Dolomiti 1 (Dolomites’ High Route 1 from Braies to Belluno).
The A. Segni Alpine Garden consists of 2 main sections: the first one is intentionally left uncultivated to well represent the seasonality of the local flowers and plants; the second one represents a high-altitude Dolomite habitat and it houses plants and lichens that normally dwell above at remarkable altitudes on Mount Civetta. The members of the Conegliano seat of the Italian Alpine Club take care of maintaining and regularly cleaning the Botanic Garden nearby Rifugio Vazzoler.
In the first section of the Alpine Garden, the one left uncultivated, guests can observe a good part of the local conifer trees (like larch and spurce trees), broadleaf trees (beech, rowan, alpine laburnum, birch trees, and so on) and the twisted shrubs (mountain pine, rhododendron, juniper, alder, etc.). In the section on plants growing in rocky environments, you can see many incredible seedlings that have evolved over time to defy cold, altitude, and extreme living conditions.
The visiting route through the Segni Alpine Garden is clearly indicated by trail signs and information boards; the two sections housed by the Botanic Garden are then subdivided into smaller sections by group of plants, whose position within the garden is indicated on the garden’s maps, available at Rifugio Vazzoler.
The Antonio Segni Alpine Garden is open thoughout the whole year and it can be visited for free; but being the local flora the main focus of the place, the suggested time of the year to visit this attraction goes from the late Spring to the first September weeks.
The Botanic Garden of Rifugio Vazzoler can be reached exclusively on foot; located along the Alta Via 1, the place can be reached through the Val Corpassa (Municipality of Taibon Agordino) though the CAI waliking path 555 (the quickest way, 1 and a half hours from Capanna Trieste) or from the Val Civetta with the CAI path 560, at the foot of “The Wall of the Walls”, the Northeast wall of Mount Civetta.
Touristic information:
Rifugio Mario Vazzoler
Go to: Natural Attractions in the Agordino area