Stelvio: the pass at 2,758 m and the park around it

The Stelvio Pass is the highest road pass in Italy at 2,758¹ meters, climbed by 88 hairpin bends and closed every winter between November and May; the Stelvio National Park is a separate, much larger area with its own rules.

The road: 2,758 meters and 88 bends

The pass road climbs to 2,758¹ meters with 88 hairpins in total, 48 on the South Tyrol side and 40 on the Lombard side.

It's the highest pass in Italy you can drive over, and the numbered bends are how drivers and cyclists count their way up. The two sides belong to two different provinces, which matters when you look for road news.

Closed from November to May, dates set each year

The road closes for the season between November and May.

The exact opening and closing dates change every year and are published by ANAS and the provincial authorities, so no 2026 or 2027 date is given here. Check their bulletins before you route a trip over it.

If you're driving south from Austria or Germany and looking for an alternative to the Brenner, the Stelvio is a summer option only. For half the year it isn't a route at all.

Summer skiing on the Livrio

The Livrio glacier at the pass is the last glacier entirely in Italy that can still be skied in summer.

Its lift times and ski pass prices are not among the facts verified here. Ask the operators at the pass, and read weather in the Alps before you drive up in shoulder months.

The park: over 130,000 hectares and three administrations

The Stelvio National Park covers over 130,000² hectares around the Ortles-Cevedale group, across Lombardy and Trentino-Alto Adige.

It's run by three separate territorial bodies, the autonomous provinces of Bolzano and Trento and the Lombardy region, each with its own offices and contacts. A question about a trail or a permit goes to the body that runs that side, not to one central park office.

The ministry's list of national parks files it under Lombardy and the province of Sondrio, because that list records one main province per park.

Pass and park are two different things

The pass is one point on a road at 2,758¹ meters; the park is a protected area of over 130,000² hectares that shares its name.

The road's rules are about seasons and traffic. The park's rules are about what you can do off the road, and they depend on which of the three authorities you're standing in.

The year the park was established and the height of the Ortles aren't published on the authority's home page, and its history pages couldn't be reached. See South Tyrol, Lombardy and national parks in Italy.

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