Monte Cristallo mountain group is in the Dolomiti Ampezzane, just to the northeast of Cortina d'Ampezzo, and its highest peak reaches 3,221 m. This mountain group includes within its natural, historical and administrative boundaries also part of the municipality of Auronzo di Cadore and is part of the Belluno Province in the Veneto Region.
Monte Cristallo is one of the highest, and famous mountains in the Dolomites; it crowns and closes to the north the Ampezzo basin ('Conca di Cortina'), while at the base its rocks seem to merge with those of the underlying Pomagagnon (2,450 m).
The Cristallo group separates the Ampezzo Dolomites from those beyond the Upper Ansiei valley; communication with this latter valley is possible through Passo Tre Croci (1,805 m; see below), which also represents the first pass to be encountered on the Cristallo roundtrip (anti-clockwise), with beginning and end in Cortina.