Lona-Lases
Lona-Lases is a small municipality in the province of Trento on the left side of the Val di Cembra, right where the porphyry valle...
Updated 21 July 2026
This season · July · Summer
What to do in Lona-Lases now
The story
The story of Lona-Lases
Between the Valle di Cembra and the Altopiano di Piné
Lona-Lases occupies a small territory of just over 11 square kilometres on the left side of the Val di Cembra, the valley carved through porphyry between Trento and the Val di Fiemme, exactly where the slopes begin to climb toward the Altopiano di Piné. The municipality was established on 8 April 1874, when the Magnifica Comunità Pinetana, the ancient body that collectively administered the villages of the plateau and the surrounding valleys, was dissolved and its territory divided into independent municipalities, among them Lona-Lases, Baselga di Piné and Bedollo. The settlement is made up of two distinct hamlets, Lona and Lases, the latter serving as the municipal seat, joined by the small hamlet of Piazzole and the localities of Casara and Sottolona. From Lona, set on a panoramic terrace, the view sweeps across the Valle di Cembra, the surrounding mountains and, on clear days, as far as the peaks of the Brenta Dolomites, a vantage point that well sums up this municipality's hinge position between valley and plateau.
Lake Lases and its Biotopes
Lake Lases is the natural heart of the municipality: a body of water of morainic origin lying at 632 metres above sea level at the foot of Monte La Gorsa, about 700 metres long, 225 metres wide and up to 25 metres deep. Its waters, among the cleanest in the area, host abundant fish life that makes the lake a popular destination for anglers, while the equipped beach and sanded lakebed turn it into a busy swimming spot in summer, complete with rocks for jumping. A loop trail of about two kilometres, with a moderate elevation change of around a hundred metres, allows visitors to walk the entire perimeter of the lake through woods and lakeside views. The wetlands fringing the shores, including the peat bogs of the Val Fredda, are protected within the Biotopo Lona-Lases, established to safeguard marsh flora and fauna that are becoming increasingly rare in Trentino. Nearby lies the smaller Lago Rot, a natural pond that completes the mosaic of wetland environments in the municipal territory, a valuable complement to the main lake for local biodiversity.
Porphyry and the Quarries
Lona-Lases is one of the key municipalities of the porphyry district of the Val di Cembra, the area whose bedrock is formed of porphyritic rhyolites dating back to the Lower Permian, around 270 million years ago. The extraction of this reddish volcanic rock, prized for its durability and for its natural tendency to split into regular slabs, is an economic activity of great importance for the town, one that intensified especially from the 1960s onward. The quarries, scattered across the slopes around the lake and the two settlements, have shaped the landscape over time just as much as watercourses and glaciers. Porphyry is not only a raw material for export but also a building material: the houses of Lona and Lases are built almost entirely of local stone, with roofs covered in porphyry slabs and the characteristic compact clusters known as cormél, an urban layout that reduced heat loss and offered protection from the cold of winter nights.
Woods, Trails and Nature
Beyond the lake, the territory of Lona-Lases is wrapped in chestnut and conifer woods that climb from the 600-metre valley floor up to the ridges of the Altopiano di Piné, offering a network of hiking trails suited to walks of every level. Among the most evocative is the Cammino delle terre sospese, a route that crosses the municipality's rural and wooded landscape, linking it to neighbouring villages. A natural phenomenon that has long intrigued local residents is the so-called buche del ghiaccio, or ice holes, cavities in the ground or in piles of rock where cold air currents keep temperatures low even in the summer months, preserving traces of ice well into high summer. The undergrowth also yields chestnuts, gathered according to tradition, while the lower, sunnier terraces host small vineyards that round out a diversified agricultural landscape. Walking among the woods and the dry-stone porphyry walls, views alternate between the lake, the valley and, higher up, the first outcrops of the Altopiano di Piné.
History and Experiences
Before becoming an independent municipality, Lona-Lases was part of the Magnifica Comunità Pinetana, an ancient form of self-government that united the villages of the Altopiano di Piné and the neighbouring valleys in the collective management of woods and pastures. With the dissolution of the community in 1874, Lona and Lases merged into a single municipality, while keeping the identity of two distinct centres, each with its own church: the Visitazione di Maria in Lases, the Decollazione di San Giovanni Battista in Lona and San Giobbe in the hamlet of Piazzole. The area's hydroelectric heritage is shown by the historic Pozzolago power plant, in operation for over a century, while the contemporary economy weaves porphyry quarries together with small farms, vineyards and a summer tourist offering that enlivens Lases, where a limited traffic zone is set up in the historic centre. Between swimming in the lake, woodland walks, quarry visits and the stone architecture of the two villages, Lona-Lases rewards a slow, unhurried visit, away from Trentino's major tourist flows.
Not to be missed
- Swimming and the loop trail around Lake Lases
- The protected wetlands of the Biotopo Lona-Lases and Lago Rot
- The porphyry villages of Lona and Lases with their stone-slab roofs
- The ice holes hidden in the woods between the two hamlets
- The Cammino delle terre sospese among vineyards, chestnut woods and quarries
To see
What to see in Lona-Lases
Routes · Trovido Route
