HOHE TAUERN PANORAMA TRAIL | STAGE: Valley of the Alps 17 | Bad Gastein - Hüttschlag Hiking tours
Tour description
On imperial tracks from the Gasteinertal to the "Valley of the Alps"
As soon as you set off in the morning there will be history wherever you look as you walk along the Kaiser Wilhelm Promenade through the time-honoured quarters of Bad Gastein into the Kötschachtal valley. Themore than 1,000-metre ascent over the Poserhöhe takes you to the Tofernscharte. Once you have reached the Tofernscharte, you can look out over the by now familiar mountains of the Hohe Tauern for the last time. From here, it‘s all about the final descent into the „Valley of the Alps“, the quiet and idyllic Grossarltal valley; in the tranquil mountaineering village of Hüttschlag you can sit back, relax and reflect on the grandiose beauty of the Hohe Tauern Panorama Trail.TIP: Enjoy an unforgettable hiking experience on the High Tauern Panorama Trail! The official High Tauern Panorama Trail Information and Booking Center with the award-winning Trail Angels team is happy to assist you. Experience a combination of personal freedom and the yearning for the extraordinary, paired with service, comfort, and safety. Top offer: The Small Escape Package: 2 nights, 2 stages including luggage service, shuttle and return transfer, and much more, starting from €209.
Details & elevation profile
Starting point
The valley station of the Stubnerkogel cable car
Finishing point
The hiking park in the centre of Hüttschlag
Route type
Hiking tours
Route description:
The start of the last stage of the Hohe Tauern Panorama Trail is at the valley station of the Stubnerkogel cable car. To the right, past the ticket offices, a passageway leads to a glass crossing over the main road through Bad Gastein. On the other side, you turn left down to the main road and before the Shell petrol station turn diagonally right into Grillparzerstraße. Outside Hotel Salzburger Hof you turn left down the path and walk past the hotel on the left as well as past the famous Silverbullet bar. Opposite Hotel Eden Rock you take a sharp right onto a path that takes you down into the historic centre of Bad Gastein. Here you walk across the village square and then cross the spectacular waterfall over a bridge, and then keep slightly to the left until you reach the Preims church.
Here, diagonally to the right, the Kaiser Wilhelm Promenade begins. This wonderful mostly flat walk first takes you through the historic town of Bad Gastein and later through forests towards the Kötschachtal valley. When you get to a fork in the road, you walk down the path to the left in the direction of Poserhöhe. Now you cross a stream and follow the path briefly uphill to the left to a small asphalt road. You follow the path briefly to the left until a meadow path branches off to the right in the direction of Poserhöhe (path no. 514). You pass a house and the path turns into a road, before a short time later a hiking trail branches off to the right (signpost "Poserhöhe"). Soon you come across a cart track that winds its way very steeply uphill. After a while, there is a hiking trail that branches off to the left, which you must make sure not to miss (if you find yourself right in front of a hut, you missed it). This hiking trail – which crosses a cart track a few times and is still quite steep – winds its way up to Alpenhaus Poserhöhe. This alpine inn is situated like an eagle's nest and is a welcome place to stop off before the final ascent.
Here you walk through the garden of the alpine hut and follow the hiking trail on the other side, which leads straight up over alpine pastures towards the Gamskarkogel. And incidentally, the Gamskarkogel is the highest green-pastured mountain in Europe and the Gamskarkogelhütte is one of the oldest shelters in the Eastern Alps. This trail first takes you straight up and later uphill and left over some quite steep slopes to below the Tofernscharte. You walk uphill one last time over alpine pastures to get to the Tofernscharte, the last saddle on the Hohe Tauern Panorama Trail.
It's all downhill from here. A meadow trail (signpost "Hüttschlag-Ortszentrum" no. 43/502a) over beautiful alpine and forest terrain takes you past the Tofernalm farm. Then you cross an alpine road down to the Harbachalm inn – your last chance to stop off for refreshments on this stage.
Just behind the alpine hut, you shorten the next bend via a footpath, cross the alpine road and walk down the valley to the left of the stream along a hiking trail until you get to the alpine road again. You follow this road for quite a while slightly downhill and out of the valley (signpost "Hüttschlag-Ortszentrum" no. 42/502a). At one point where a forest road joins on the left, a hiking trail takes you diagonally left and downhill (signpost "Hüttschlag-Ortszentrum" no. 43/502a); the trail runs out of the valley underneath and parallel to the alpine road. At a fork in the road, you take the path leading straight ahead – the path widens at one point and turns into a wide meadow path, which you follow downhill in the same direction until you reach an asphalt road. A shortcut through the forest brings you back to the asphalt road and on to a left turn. Here you leave the asphalt road again and walk down the forest path (signpost "Hüttschlag-Ortszentrum" no. 43a). After a while you choose the lower of the two meadow paths leading down into the valley until you reach the first houses of Hüttschlag. You take the gravel path down to an asphalt road and turn right into the centre of Hüttschlag: you have now reached the end of the Hohe Tauern Panorama Trail at the hiking park!
Tips
Recommended equipment
- Day backpack, capacity: 20 litres, with waist belt and rain cover
- Hiking boots - minimum category B
- Weather-adapted and hard-wearing clothing in multiple layers. The Hohe Tauern Panorama Trail is mostly at altitudes between 1,300m and 2,450m - this should be taken into account when choosing your hiking equipment (especially your clothing).
- Height-adjustable trekking poles
- Sun and rain protection
- Make sure take enough to eat and sufficiently large water bottles with you, as there are not refreshment stops and fountains on all stages (e.g. on stages 5 and 7).
- First aid kit
- Pocket knife
- Mobile phone
- Tour description or hiking map
Best time of year
How to get there
Coming from the west (via Innsbruck), drive on the Inntal Autobahn (A12) in the direction of Wörgl. At the exit marked "Wörgl Ost", leave the autobahn and take highway B178 towards St. Johann in Tirol. From there, continue on highway B164 towards Fieberbrunn. When you come to Saalfelden, change to the B311. In Lend, make a right into Gastein Valley.
If you are arriving from the south (via Klagenfurt, Villach, Slovenia, Italy), take the Tauern Autobahn (A10) as far as Spittal an der Drau. Now you will continue on highways B100 and B106 as far as Obervellach. Here, the B105 will bring you to Mallnitz, where you will be able to take advantage of motorail service operated by Austrian Railways.
47.11028, 13.13143
The ÖBB Railjet, as well as Euro and Intercity trains take you to the Gasteinertal valley to Bad Hofgastein station.
Start of stage: Parking Area: The APCOA car park "Am Wasserfall" in Bad Gastein.
End of stage: Immediately before Hüttschlag you pass through a short tunnel. Directly after the tunnel, the road branches off to the right up to the centre of the village. There - right next to a small chapel - are several parking spaces that can be used by long-distance hikers for several days.
Further information & links
Ferienregion Nationalpark Hohe Tauern Gerlosstraße 18 5730 Mittersill, AustriaPhone +43 6562 40939
E-Mail: hohetauerntrail@nationalpark.at
Booking center & info hotline Trail Angels GmbH 9821 Obervellach 15, Austria Phone +43 4782 93093 E-Mail: info@bookyourtrail.com