High in the Italian Dolomites, a hiking trail on Seceda mountain has become a renowned place for taking dramatic shots of the spiky Odle Peaks.
But its growing fame on social media is becoming a nightmare for residents of the area in South Tyrol.
This summer, walkers and locals have been sharing images of the route jammed with queues of tourists waiting to take Instagram-worthy snaps.
Some 8,000 people reportedly walked the path on a single day last week.
Frustrations have grown to the point that local landowners have decided to take independent action and install a turnstile at the beginning of a trail.
The move has been controversial, but it is highlighting a wider, growing issue of overtourism, poor visitor behaviour, and environmental damage in Italy’s mountains.
Farmers ask tourists to pay fee to hike scenic route
At the beginning of July, a group of local farmers set up a turnstile with a toll on the Odle trail to protest against the constant passage of tourists who, they say, disrespect the area.
“The trails are abandoned and the meadows are full of rubbish,” they said in a statement.
The turnstile was quickly deactivated by the Puez-Odle Nature Park authorities. However, in recent days, the system has been reinstated.
The landowners said in a statement that the initial installation of the turnstile was primarily intended as a provocation – or a ‘cry for help’ as local newspaper Il Dolomiti describes it.
However, since receiving no contact from “political representatives, associations, or organisations”, they chose to reactivate the system.
Anyone who wishes to hike along the route is asked to pay a €5 fee – children and residents excluded. There is a person present to take payments, which can be made by cash or card.
The landowners say they have been obliged to charge a toll to compensate for the damage to their land and to fund their upkeep of the slopes.
Mountain associations denounce the turnstile
Local tourism associations and mountain guides have weighed in on the debate, with many denouncing the landowners’ move.
“If from one day to the next every landowner imposed a toll, what would happen?” Tullio Mussner, president of the Lia da Mont association, told local news outlet L’Altramontagna.
There are reportedly now staff members of the tourism association Dolomites Val Gardena posted at the turnstile to inform visitors that it is not mandatory to pay the requested fee.
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They also direct hikers to an alternative, slightly longer route that bypasses the gate and still reaches the famous panoramic viewpoint of the Odle Peaks.
The organisation is reportedly preparing an information sign to be placed next to the turnstile, clarifying that it is a private initiative and indicating the way to the alternative route.
Greater regulation of tourism is needed in the Dolomites
Others, including local residents, say the provocative move by landowners has been useful.
Carlo Alberto Zanella, president of the South Tyrolean branch of the national hiking association Club Alpino Italia (CIA), told local newspaper Salto, “it serves to bring a real problem to public attention.”
He said visitors walk through or cycle across the meadows bordering the trail, spoiling the fields and their crops before the farmers can harvest.
“You need education about how to respect the environment. That’s the point.”
Local tourism groups also acknowledge that overcrowding is partly due to a lack of regulation by provincial authorities.
Mussner called for local farmers to be financially compensated for summer tourism, as is done in winter for owners of land crossed by ski slopes.
This is particularly urgent given the booming interest in mountain destinations amid boiling European summers.
According to research by the Demoskopika Institute, for the second consecutive year, South Tyrol is one of the destinations in Italy most exposed to tourist overcrowding, on a par with Venice.
Is Apple to blame for the Seceda mountain’s popularity?
Some say the culprit of this area’s popularity is the technology company Apple.
It used a photograph of the Seceda mountain as the official wallpaper for its iOS 7 operating system a decade ago.
Two years ago, it featured the Seceda again in a short promotional video during the iPhone 15 launch event.
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Local groups say the result of that involuntary publicity was a huge increase in visitors, often driven by the desire to just take a few photos of the views and then leave.
They also say that the cable car from Ortisei that takes passengers to the summit is exacerbating the problem.
The route has also seen intense overcrowding, with local guides warning visitors to arrive early in the morning to avoid the lengthy queues.
Some tourism and environmental groups are now calling for a price increase in summer or even its complete closure in peak season to prevent the unsustainable influx of visitors.
The company that operates the cable car has instead proposed tripling its capacity amid much controversy and fears of stoking the overtourism problem.