A photographer uncovers thousands of ancient dinosaur tracks carved into nearly vertical Alpine walls far above the road, dating back about 210 million years. The discovery sits inside Stelvio National Park, a protected region in northern Italy’s central Alps, not far from where upcoming Winter Olympic events will be staged.
You might have thought the Olympics could use a prehistoric twist, and now they almost do. Italian authorities announced the find on Tuesday, noting that the tracks occur high on rugged dolomite cliffs between Livigno and Bormio, locations that will host competitions during the Milan-Cortina 2026 Games, scheduled for February.
Milan’s mayor, Giuseppe Sala, remarked that just weeks before the Games’ opening, this discovery adds an astonishing new chapter to Lombardy’s mountains. A press conference held by Italian officials confirmed the presence of thousands of footprints within Stelvio National Park, highlighting the site’s significance.
The 2026 Games are a joint venture between Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, with events spread across about twenty venues in northern Italy. Livigno will host freestyle skiing and snowboarding, while Bormio will showcase alpine skiing and the relatively new sport of ski mountaineering.
Scientists date the footprints to the Late Triassic period, roughly 210 million years ago. Milan’s Natural History Museum describes the roughly three-square-mile valley as the Alps’ largest and one of the world’s richest fossil sites.
Nature photographer Elio Della Ferrera first spotted the tracks in September while tracking deer and vultures in the Fraele Valley near Bormio, a rugged landscape dotted with artificial lakes. The Associated Press reports that his camera was pointed at a rock face about 2,000 feet above the road when he noticed something extraordinary. He climbed the cliff to verify the prints — estimating there were tens of thousands of them.
Some tracks show clear claw marks believed to belong to prosauropod dinosaurs, hinting at long-necked herbivores that predate the giant sauropods seen in popular films. The Milan Natural History Museum notes that the tracks are exceptionally preserved and reveal toe and claw impressions from when the cliffs were tidal flats at the end of the Triassic period, between 252 and 201 million years ago.
Della Ferrera alerted authorities, triggering paleontological studies. Preliminary analyses indicate most tracks come from herbivorous prosauropod dinosaurs. These creatures are ancestors of the later, larger sauropods.
Officials emphasize that these are the first dinosaur tracks discovered in Lombardy and the only ones found north of the Insubric Line, a major tectonic boundary marking the Alps’ southern edge. The dinosaurs likely walked on soft tidal flats that later became rock as the mountain range formed.
Prosauropod fossils have appeared on multiple continents, with notable finds in northern Europe—especially Germany—according to paleontological resources. This discovery could shed new light on the distribution and evolution of these early giants.
As of now, the track site is not accessible via public trails. Researchers will rely on drones and remote sensing to study the footprints, and it may remain closed to visitors for the time being. Still, the idea that Olympic athletes might compete in the shadow of such ancient legends is a humbling reminder of our planet’s deep history.
Would you agree that this find reshapes our sense of the Alps’ history, or do you think the focus should stay squarely on the Games? Share your thoughts in the comments.
