Lago di Carezza: Visit The Rainbow Lake of the Dolomites
Lago di Carezza – Karersee in German, Lake Carezza in English, and Lec de Ergobando (Rainbow Lake) in the local Ladin language – is one of the most beautiful in the Dolomites, and as a bonus, it’s easily reachable.
It’s known as the Rainbow Lake because of the colours of the water and the legend of the lake that I’ve recounted further on in the article.
We’ve visited Karersee twice – once in the summer and once in the winter. And as beautiful as the lake looks covered in snow, a better time to visit it is in the summer when you can enjoy the different tones of the emerald waters.
As for where lake Carezza is located, what you should know about visiting it, and what else to do in the area – read on!
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Lago di Carezza – general info
Location | Lake Carezza is located between the towns of Nova Levante and Carezza in Val d’Ega, South Tyrol. The closest large city is Bolzano, an approximately half-hour’s drive from the lake.
Altitude | 1520m above sea level.
Depth | It’s a small alpine lake – only 140m wide and 300m long. At its deepest, the depth of the water can reach 22m, and in the autumn, it can get as shallow as only 6m. Karersee is fed by springs and melting snow, that’s why the water level fluctuates so much.
Mountains | The mountains behind lake Carezza – and the ones you often see reflected in its waters, are Latemar.
Interesting info | Lago di Carezza is one of the few lakes in the Dolomites where you are not allowed to swim. In fact, there is a fence around the whole lake prohibiting people from going closer to the lake. It’s to protect the nature – lake Carezza is a protected natural monument. So please, be respectful.
Another interesting thing is the legend of how the lake got the name “Rainbow lake”.
Important information! The tunnel that connects the parking lot and bus stop to the lake gets closed after 19:00. When we visited Lago di Carezza in winter, it was impossible to access it in other ways – there was a barrier next to the road blocking the trails.
There’s a viewing platform just at the exit from the tunnel which offers breathtaking views of the lake and the Latemar range. But if you’d like to get that view with the Latemar reflected in the lake, walk a couple of minutes anti-clockwise on the trail.
Getting to Lago di Carezza
Getting to Carezza lake is very easy. There’s a parking lot right there, as well as a bus stop. Many people even choose to hike from the nearby – or not so nearby – villages!
By car
It’s very easy to get to Lago di Carezza by car. The lake is located right next to the SS241 local mountain road between Nova Levante and Carezza towns. And there is a huge (paid) parking area right there, too.
The only complication, of course, is the mountain road – it’s narrow and winding. But the good thing is the road is well kept – even in the winter when we had to drive there during a huge snow storm, the road was cleaned regularly.
In the winter, make sure that you have snow chains in your car. The police will not let you go up the mountain if there’s snow and your car doesn’t have snow chains.
By bus
It’s easy to reach lake Carezza by bus – there’s a bus stop right next to it. There are multiple busses running in the area – just use Google maps or Suedtirol Mobil websites to check when and which one runs from your location to the lake.
Sudtirol/Alto Adige region – the South Tyrol region of Northern Italy – has a card called Südtirol Guest Pass that lets you use the public transport in the region for free! And you can get this pass for free, too – just ask your hotel to provide you with one.
On foot
You can hike to lake Carezza if you so decide. There are multiple hiking trails in the area.
For example, there is a trail from Obereggen via the path “Templeweg” which is 13.2km roundtrip and takes approximately 3h30min to hike.
A closer one that many choose to do to avoid paying for the parking is the Carezza village. It’s not any official path and the distance depends on where you park, but it should take approximately 25 to 30 minutes.
From the other town – Nova Levante – it’s approximately 10km roundtrip and takes some 3h to hike.
Best time to visit
The best time to visit Karersee is in the summer months, as that’s when the water level is the best for the most beautiful views.
As for the time of day, it’s better to go in the early morning or late afternoon. That’s when you can hope to catch the perfect reflection of Latemar in the water.
Summer
Summer is definitely the better time to visit. Even with the Sahara sand colouring the sky in orange hues and rain disrupting the reflection of the mountains in the water, it looked so much better than in snow.
Winter
When we went in February, it was quite a winter paradise, that’s for sure. It was also quite interesting to go around the lake – the trail was extremely slippery, so at points we had to slide down the hills on our butts.
Facilities by lake Carezza
I’ve mentioned the parking lot already. It’s big and has reserved spots for people with disabilities, too.
There are also two bistros next to the parking lot, so you can get food if necessary.
A souvenir and sport’s clothing shop is right there, too. We got quite a cute bracelet for Emma in it on our last visit.
And of course, there are toilets available in the tunnel. And they are free of charge!
What to pack with you
There’s nothing special you need to take with you to lake Carezza.
Wear layers, as it’s the mountains and one moment it can be hot and the other – get rainy and quite cold.
Always take enough water with you when going somewhere – it’s very important to keep hydrated at all times. We generally take some snacks with us, too.
On our last visit, there was quite a rainshower and I wished I had some waterproof clothing or raincoat with me. Oh well.
Things to do in the area
Lago di Carezza is a nice place to visit for sure, but it doesn’t take long to walk around the lake and enjoy the views.
There is not a lot of stuff to do in the area, but there are some interesting and unique activities.
The Hanging Bridge
The one I told you to pay attention to in the parking lot picture, haha.
This is very easily accessed – actually, it’s just next to the parking lot. When you arrive in the parking, turn so that the lake is behind you and walk to the far end of the lot – that’s where the bridge is.
It’s over a bit of a river, and the views from the bridge are quite nice. If you continue on, there’s a hiking trail from which you can see Catinaccio.
“Musical wood”
In the tunnel that connects the parking lot to the lake, you can find logs hanging by a wall. If you move them, they create different sounds.
They are made from the Latemar spruce – the one that Stradivari used for his famous and pretty much perfect violins.
Hiking
As I mentioned before already, there are many hiking trails in the area around lake Carezza. These are some interesting ones.
The loop around lake Carezza
Just like pretty much all the other lakes in the Dolomites, you can hike around lake Carezza itself. It’s a very easy and very short trail. It’s approximately a kilometer long and it takes just 20 minutes to walk around. You can enjoy the lake from different angles – the water colour changes a bit depending on where you are.
Sentiero Labirinto
Key details:
- Length: 10.1km
- Level: moderte
- Elevation gain: 482m
- Time: 3h30m
A loop hike to the foot of the Latemar Mountain range. And as the name suggests, there are rocky labyrinths on the way. The views are magnificent, though. Reviews suggest to walk clockwise so that you go up the rocks in the labyrinths instead of down.
Lago di Carezza – Rifugio Oberholz
Key details:
- Length: 19.2km
- Level: hard
- Elevation gain: 956m
- Time: 7h
A challenging route from Lago di Carezza to Obereggen. The first kilometers are through the forest, but the rest offer spectacular views all around. It’s a circular route, but you can just go to Rifugio Oberholz or Obereggen and take a bus back to Carezza.
Winter activities
As with the rest of the Dolomites, there are quite a few ski and snowboarding trails around Karersee lake. We ourselves did a ski holiday in Carezza village. We stayed in Hotel Alpenrose (definitely recommend!) and used the slope just by the hotel.
As an added bonus, there’s a very long and very interesting tobogganing slope – we definitely suggest doing it!
Where to stay
The best places to stay near lake Carezza are Nova Levante or Carezza village itself if you’d like to be somewhere close by.
As I mentioned, we stayed in Hotel Alpenrose in Carezza. It’s a nice hotel with tasty food and good rooms.
Or search for other options in Carezza.
Some interesting extra information:
Besides the very useful things that I’ve already mentioned, there are other interesting things about Lake Carezza. That is, the legend of the lake and the reason why so many trees around it are down.
The legend of Lago di Carezza
According to the legend of lago di Carezza, there used to be a mermaid living in the lake. The wizard Masaré once walked by the lake, heard the mermaid sing, and fell in love with her. The wizard asked a witch called Lanwerda to help him seduce the mermaid. The witch advised the wizard to dress up as a jewel seller and conjure a rainbow made of gems from Mt Catinaccio to Mt Latemar. The mermaid apparently loved jewels.
The wizard, though, messed it up and forgot to dress up. The mermaid admired the rainbow and the gems, but then noticed the wizard and hid deep in lake Carezza. Since then, she was never seen again.
Masaré the wizard got very angry, smashed the rainbow and threw the gems in the lake. That’s why the lake shimmers in the colours of the rainbow. And why it’s called Lec de ergobando – Rainbow Lake – in the local Ladin language.
The storm that destroyed a lot
On the night from 29th to 30th of October 2018 a storm called VAIA tore through the Alps causing devastating damages. Some of those damages were timber that was lost – in South Tyrol alone, an estimated 1.5 million cubic metres of timber, which is twice the annual yield of the province, was affected.
The damage was ecological, as the nature was affected in incredible ways. Because of the lost woods, the risk of mudslides and avalanches increased dramatically. Of course, it was also economic damages – the spruce wood is used to make some of the best musical instruments in the world, and unbelievable amounts of it were damaged to the point of being unusable.
So if you go to lago di Carezza and wonder why so many of the trees are cut down – it was the storm.
Last thoughts
Lago di Carezza is definitely one of the most beautiful lakes in the Dolomites. It’s right up there with lago di Braies and Lago di Dobbiaco for me!
If you have a chance to visit it, I recommend you do. Spend a bit of time enjoying the waters, maybe even have a picnic!
Do you have any questions? I’m happy to answer them here in the comments. Otherwise, you can drop me an email, or join the Facebook group!