Hike: Juac Hut & Rifugio Firenze

This hike is easy to reach and offers plenty of ways to spend the day with the family in nature. But the Juac Hut is also a worthwhile destination as a half-day trip in the afternoon when the low sun bathes the surroundings in a beautiful light.

Coming from the Brenner motorway (A22), drive through Val Gardena (SS242) to Selva. Just before the village, at the Hotel Alpenroyal, turn left at the crossroads and then immediately right. Continue steeply up the road through the village for about 200 metres. As soon as it flattens out, turn left towards Daunëi. Follow the road for another 200 metres to the pay car park.

Val Gardena is also easily accessible by public transport. Line 350 runs every half hour from Waidbruck or Klausen to Selva. Here, you get off at the Nives stop in the village centre. During the summer months, the city bus runs every hour up to the Daunëi car park, the starting point of the hike.
Timetables are best obtained from SüdtirolMobil.

Although the car park and starting point of this hike is located just above Selva and is easy to reach, you may be surprised to find it’s right in the middle of nature. This makes the hike to the Juac Hut an ideal destination for families.

If you arrive by car, follow the road from the car park for two more hairpin bends until you reach another car park (the city bus runs to this point), behind which the trail begins. If you want, you can drive the family up to this small spot, which is often full, and drop them off before taking the car back to the lower car park. While the driver parks, the children can explore the area.

Marked trail No. 3 leads to the Juac Hut, winding pleasantly up through the forest. The path is wide and many have managed to push a sturdy pram all the way to the top.

There are just under 200 metres of altitude to get to the Juac Hut. However, the path has a few surprises for young and old, so that no one gets bored during the hike.

At the very beginning, located behind the car park, there is a nice little pond, and a little further away from it you’ll find an enormous wood-carved chainsaw sculpture at the edge of the forest. Along the path, there are also wood-carved animals to be found with small plaques that provide information about their way of life. Children will enjoy searching for each one and learning more about it.

Eventually, you reach the Juac Hut, which lies on a flat meadow below the mighty and impressive Stevia Mountains. From here, you can enjoy the unique view for the first time: to the north, the Geisler rise steeply, to the east lies the mighty Sella massif and to the south, the mount Sassolungo stands tall.

The Juac Hut is run by the Comploi family and offers a rich selection of traditional local dishes with something for everyone, from a snack to a tasty lunch.

On the flat meadow in front of the hut, a goal has been set up for playing football and on a small hill, you’ll find a large sundial. But the best place to play is probably the surrounding meadows and woods, where everyone can let off steam and explore nature.

Depending on the snow conditions, the Juac Hut is also open in winter, and the hut's host regularly prepares the trail so that it can be easily mastered with suitable footwear.
Due to their south-facing orientation, the meadows around the Juac Hut get a lot of sun, making them great to walk through in spring and long into autumn.

Continue to the Rifugio Firenze

If you find the hike to the Juac Hut to be too short, you can extend it further to the Rifugio Firenze. To do so, follow marked trail No. 3 just behind the Juac Hut northwards into the forest. The trail first descends until you meet trail No. 1. At the crossroads, there is a beautiful lake in the middle of the forest.

To the Rifugio Firenze, follow trail No. 1 uphill, being sure to stick to the right side of the small stream. When you arrive at the hut, you’ll find you’re actually in the middle of the Puez-Odle Nature Park; the wide alpine pastures extend to the rock faces of the Odles, which shoot up vertically in the distance. The Rifugio Firenze is a kind of junction between the hiking areas of Puez-Odle and Seceda and is always busy. However, there are wide alpine meadows all around where you can find peace and quiet and where children can run free.