Monte Dente della Vecchia, Mountain summit in Abetone Cutigliano, Italy

Monte Dente della Vecchia is a 1843-meter summit in the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines topped by a distinctive tooth-shaped peak. The mountain rises from the northwest ridge of Alpe Tre Potenze and overlooks high mountain terrain on all sides.

The mountain sits in a region crossed by ancient passages for thousands of years that connected trade routes between north and south. The passes around these peaks were strategic corridors for movement across the peninsula.

Timber from the Boscolungo forest, now Abetone, was hauled over the Passo della Vecchia and Passo di Annibale for nearly two centuries, bound for Pisa's naval arsenal to make oars and hull planking for the Grand Duchy of Tuscany's ships. The route was called the Via dei remi, the Way of the Oars, and avoided the hostile Duchy of Lucca by crossing Este lands.

Access is from the Passo della Vecchia, southwest of the summit, by climbing the narrow crest; the route is not technical but demands care. A second approach comes from the northeast from the Passo della Fariola, just below Monte Gomito, where the Abetone ski lifts arrive.

Above the treeline the landscape opens into extensive high-altitude moorlands covered with blueberry bushes and low conifers that cling to the rocky terrain. Nearby alpine lakes like Piatto and Nero sit within this sparsely vegetated high country.