The Ancient Larches of Val d’Ultimo (Ultental) Valley

About 30 kilometres outside of Merano there is one of the oldest natural monuments of South Tyrol: The ancient larches of Ulten represent the oldest conifers in Europe. Furthermore they bear witness to the human settlements on the far side of the Ulten Valley, growing at the edge of an avalanche forest that was to protect the farms above the hamlet of “Ausserlahn” from avalanches.
Once you look at these three larches, it becomes clear how mighty they are. Growing 1430 metres above sea level, they bear the marks of all weathers; their trunks measure up to 8 metres in diameter and they are up to 35 metres high. They could be even higher, had they not been struck by lightening. The fourth larch was also lost to external adversities: It fell over in 1930. This, at least made it possible to count its rings and so determine its age: It was, at the time it fell, more than 2000 years old.

Information and access
Next to this natural monument, a trilingual information chart – in German, Italian, and English – displays the relevant facts concerning the larches: The State Office for Landscape Ecology provides an overview of their natural and cultural peculiarities. A seating area and a little fountain made from larch wood, as well as the new and easily hikeable meadow path leading towards the larches, make the Ulten primeval larches an attractive place to visit.

The Larch Tree
The larch tree, the only deciduous conifer in Europe, is enchanting all year round: it buds a delicate green in spring, forms lovely red cones, and its leaves turn a brilliant golden-yellow in fall. Even today, larch resin is collected through boreholes in the wood—called Lörget in South Tyrol—the whole year round. The resin once served as a folk remedy and as a raw material in industry. Today, larch is used mainly to produce the Goaßln whip used in traditional Alpine whip-cracking. The resin-rich wood of the larch tree is extremely weather resistant and was thus commonly used to build farmhouses in Val d’Ultimo. A roof with shingles made from split larch can last for decades.