Mendelpass
aka Passo della Mendola
The Mendelpass area is a balcony on whole groups of
mountains in three different directions, the dolomites
behind Bolzano, as well as the Ortler group and the Brenta
group of the alps. Large groups of bikers of all kinds,
motorized and unmotorized are likely to be on this road.
Beware of route finding problems when trying to make a
southern loop back to Bozen.
 |
01.(00.0km,241m)
START-END EAST: jct SS42 Bozner Strasse - Weinstrasse
bike path at railroad station in Appiano
02.(06.1km,415m) route turns uphill away from SP14
03.(20.8km,1363m) TOP: Mendelpass
04.(28.7km,1014m) route joins with Via Roma (route
from Gampenpass) on right
05.(41.8km,561m) START-END WEST: Demulo |
Approaches
From East. There are several options for the
lower approach. But they all leave from the valley of the Etsch,
starting as far north as Andriano or as far south as Kaltern (or
even further south on narrow secondary roads). The closest metro
area is Bozen to the north. Leaving Bozen towards St Paul and St
Michael, you can take a bike trail from the south side of town
that passes through two bicycle tunnels while climbing. These
are nicely lit tunnels, away from cars and motor fumes, a whole
new pleasant tunnel cycling experience. In St Michael the
objective of the ride becomes visibly clear. It is the large
green plateau on the west side of the Etch river. The road works
itself up the plateau with methodical ramps that are like
stepping stones, each one neatly labeled with a number and the
altitude for the many cyclists that make the climb. The rocky
dolomite spires, sitting on top of a green plateau on the other
side, are visible even from the lower ramps and from there the
view only gets better. The ride becomes especially memorable,
once it reaches the upper cliff forming formation. Here the road
becomes a long curvy shelf, and a solidly built stone fence
separates the road from the drop off. Little alcoves, like
bird's nests above the landscape, seem like the perfect
impromptu stopping point for a bicycle, unless the traffic is
relentless. Now it's several more switchbacks, these ones
stacked on top of one another so that they all fit into a single
photo from the top, and then the actual top is reached, where a
whole town waits, complete with restaurants, an alimentari,
bars, albergos and souvenir shops, even a funicular. I'm told
they take bicycles, and several have been seen standing close
by, but nobody admitted to actually taking the funicular. From
here there is an option to climb further for an out and back
ascent to Monte Penegal (1737m).

From West. (described downwards). The rugged Ortler group is
visible across the valley, mostly between trees. A short
alternate to the main road is the ride through the town of
Ruffre, which offers additonal views of the Ortler Group.
Otherwise it's a very quick descent past a hotel to Fondo, and
then it's time to decide once and for all wheater to continue
descending south or climb back up to Gampenpass (pso Gambino).
The description continues south through Ronzone, Sanzeon and
Demulo. The roll through these small towns turns out to be a a
journey along a balcony on the grupo di Brenta alps. Traffic is
a little heavier than on the climb. If descending towards Trento
or even just Mezzocorona, in order to pick up the Weinstrasse
bike path back to Bolzano, the route can become very
complicated, if trying to avoid the section that is closed to
bicycles, because of a tunnel on the main road. In my case the
police recommended a detour through Tuenno, Nanno and Derinno to
pick up the main descent back into Mezzocorona. This route is
very scenic and judging from all the racers on the road very
popular, but a lot longer than it looks on the map, because it
crosses a canyon that many road maps do not show clearly.

Dayride with this pass as the highest summit:
Mendelpass: Andrian (a few km south of Bolzano) >
sightseeing detours through Sankt Paul and Sankt Michael >
Mendelpass > descending along multiple wrong turns and dead
ends eventually continuing > Tuenno > Nanno > Flavon
> Denno > Mezzocorona > Weinstrasse bike path >
Bozen > Andrian: 103 miles with 6000 ft of climbing in 8:2
hours (VDO MC1.0 m4:9.5.27).
Notes: without the detours, planned and uplanned this would
be a much more reasonable day ride.
A dayride with this pass as intermediate summit is on
page:
Gampenpass
The last day on this extended tour with different start and
end points is on page: Penser
Joch

The bottom two picture pannels were taken on the bottom
part of the described western approach, direction Nanno,
Tueno and Derinno. Many other options exist.
Mendelpass
aka pso. della Mendola
Highest Point: 1363m
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Eastern Approach: |
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from jct SS42 Bozner Strasse -
Weinstrasse bike path at railroad station in Appiano
(241m)
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1122m |
20.8km |
Western Approach: |
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from Demulo (561m)
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802m |
21.0km |
from jct with road to Gampenpass
(1014m)
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349m |
7.9km |
back to Cycling
Passes in Europe
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