Starting from Cortina d'Ampezzo village centre, run up Corso Italia, then turn right up via Guglielmo Marconi. This road does a sharp switchback and at the intersection you'll find a bike/walking path on your right. Take this in a vaguely north and uphill direction. At 2.8km, turn sharply right onto a trail heading straight uphill. Keep following this trail. It gets steeper and more technical as you climb up, up, up the valley wall, becoming a bit scrambly in places as you get higher. At about 5km the trail turns right and traverses southeast for a couple of km before climbing sharply again. Enjoy the incredible views of green slopes and towering mountains.
At around 8km is a trail junction. Take the left-hand turn uphill and keep going up. There's some mild visual exposure (non-technical) as the slopes drop away below you and the views get really stunning. Near the top of the climb there are some benched switchbacks which can be in some disrepair and with skiddy gravel, it's worth taking care with your foot placement. The trail tops out at around 9km as you cross the ridgeline.
There is a trail intersection here, take the right-hand trail. About 300m along, there is a feature that shouldn't be missed - look to your right and find a tunnel hollowed out through the ridgeline. Go through it and find a breathtaking vista on the other side. Once you've spent an appropriate amount of time being spellbound, head back to the trail and keep following it through alpine meadows, towards the ski field which you'll come to at about 11 km.
Here, take the switchbacking trail to the right of the skifield road downhill. It crosses the road at 12.7km - don't turn uphill up the skifield road - just go straight across the road and find the continuation of the trail, which drops steeply downhill. it wasn't clearly marked when I did it, but it's there dropping down below the road edge.
Going down, you'll get to the maintenance trail underneath the chair lift and follow that for a little way, and then peel off to your right at around 13 km. This wider trail takes you down to a restaurant at around 14 km. Don't continue downhill here. Cross the grounds heading generally right, and find your way to the trail again on the other side.
You will traverse slightly uphill for a short distance and then it's more descent. At around 17km you're at the top of another ski lift - take the left-hand route down (very steep) and reach the upper village (Verocai), where the Via Verocai takes you back to the same bike path you started on. Turn left, heading back towards Cortina and retrace your steps until you're back where you started.
