Tarvisio-Fusine Lakes Itinerary (P010)

Although they are not included in specific protection areas, they have always been under protection as part of the large Tarvisio Forest, formerly the property of the episcopate and governed by the State of Italy. The lakes, which are replenished by rain and especially by melting snow, are connected to each other below ground by karst fractures: the water from the Upper Lake flows slowly into the Lower Lake and sometimes it runs almost dry. They have always been considered the "cold pole of Italy", as temperatures below -20 °C are often recorded there during winter.

The lakes can be easily reached by bicycle along the FVG 1/a cycle track, which departs from the railway station of Tarvisio Boscoverde. The cycle path, which was built on the site of the old railway that used to connect Tarvisio to Jesenice and onwards to Villach or Ljubljana, climbs slowly and steadily to the Fusine plain, near the state border between Italy and Slovenia. The path takes a detour, on a reserved road, to the natural biotope of Torbiere di Scichizza, a small post-glacial lake that has become marshland over the millennia and is now a habitat for rare plants. After the biotope, the most demanding climb to the lakes now begins: it can be travelled on the asphalt road or on the side bicycle track, which is not very wide but well-travelled by MTB or E-Bike riders.