Passo delle Erbe

The road climbs, and then at 2,003 m it simply stops climbing: the top is a saddle of open pasture with rock towers standing over it, and the jagged block to the north is Sass de Putia (Peitlerkofel). Most people come for the drive itself. This is the crossing between Brixen in the Eisacktal and San Martin de Tor in Val Badia, narrow the whole way and in good repair, and the driving takes the attention that the passenger gets to spend on the view. At the saddle the ground opens out into grass and low ridges. Walking leads off from there — easy going, and it draws far fewer people than the road does. Bring a jacket; the weather at the top is its own thing.

• No toilets, no drinking water: nothing of either within 800 m of the saddle.
• The road is narrow: two-way traffic and blind bends, so meeting an oncoming vehicle can mean one of you reversing.
• Fake parking attendant: one driver parked on a free spot was aggressively pressed for €10 in cash at the pass.
• Closed in winter: the road over the top shuts; on the south side it stays open as far as the Plose ski resort.

Nearly everyone arrives by car, either up from Brixen in the Eisacktal or from San Martin de Tor in Val Badia, on a road that is narrow for its whole length. There is no approach walk to speak of: the car park is at the saddle itself and the bus stop is on the road at the top, so you step out of the vehicle straight into the view. In winter the crossing is shut, and the road runs only as far as the Plose ski resort on the south side.

Best: the months when the pass road is open and the crossing can be driven end to end.

Avoid: winter, when the road over the top is closed and only the south side is driveable, as far as the Plose ski resort.

The saddle stays quieter than the big-name Dolomite passes, and the walking that starts from it quieter still — the traffic is here for the drive and moves on.