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From Gstatterboden to the Ennstaler Hütte

Accessible by public transport

Characteristics

Skill

Fitness

The tour in numbers

Level of difficulty medium

Route 14,8 km

Time 7:00 h

Uphill 997 hm

Downhill 1002 hm

Highest point 1541 m

The fastest way to the oldest refuge in the Gesäuse. From Gstatterboden via the open spaces of the Gstatterboden farmer and those of the Hörantalm up to the Ennstaler Hut. On the descent simply hike over the Hochscheibenalm and make a nice little round tour.

From the National Park Pavilion in Gstatterboden, this hut hike leads alternately along forest roads, forest paths and open alpine meadows up to the oldest hut in the Gesäuse, the Ennstal Hut. If you think that you can quench your thirst only at the hut, you are mistaken! Already on the ascent path, which is very well marked by the way, you will pass two springs, which invite you to fill up your water bottles and take a short break. During the short breaks, which the sometimes steep ascent requires, you will enjoy incredible views of Lugauer, Zinödl, Planspitz, Hochtor, Reichenstein and Buchstein massifs and you will get the urge for further hikes. If you look carefully, you can even see the Hesshütte on the Ennseck saddle on the opposite side of the valley. Once you arrive at the top of the Enns Valley Hut, while eating the famous "Kaspressknödel" (cheese dumplings), you have to consider whether you should sleep one night at the hut and the next day focus on the Tamischbach Tower, the Tieflim Wall or the crossing into the Mühlbachgraben.

Best season

January

March

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More information

A9 Phyrn motorway to exit Ardning/Admont and from there past Frauenberg, approx. 10 km after Admont. Via the B146 (Gesäuse Bundesstraße) coming from the west into the Gesäuse.

Or via Leoben, Vordernberg and Eisenerz to Hieflau and from there via the B146 in a westerly direction into the Gesaeuse.

A1 Westautobahn to exit Ybbs and from there in southern direction through Scheibbs, Lunz am See, Göstling an der Ybbs and Palfau to Hieflau. From there via B146 in western direction into the Gesäuse.

For this hut hike there are two different ways:

On the one hand from the parking lot of the National Park Pavilion in Gstatterboden via trail no. 646 first up to the nearby chapel, from where you have a good view of the houses and the railway station.

Alternatively, you can start at the car park 800 m east of the National Park Pavilion and hike north along a forest road until you reach the other access path after a few hundred metres. The marked hiking trail then leads you, now and then through the woods and briefly somewhat steeper, directly up to the Gstatterbodenbauer, an alpine pasture where cows graze.

The next ½ hour you follow the forest road (Hochscheiben MTB Tour) until you reach the Kropfbründl after about one kilometre. A little later you reach the crossroads Kroisn, where you have to decide which way you want to go to the Ennstaler Hütte. The fastest way, which we therefore also recommend for the ascent, leads in a northerly direction to the Hörantalm (934 m), where you can see not only cows but also the Planspitz behind you.

Now the path climbs steeper through beautiful mixed forest - once you hike along a forest road for a short time - past Butterbründl to the Ennstaler Hut. After a break, you can follow trail 642 along a partly steep forest path to the beautifully situated Hochscheibenalm. From there you follow the Hochscheiben-MTB trail (=forestry road) in western direction to the Kroissenalm, where you can recharge your batteries one last time before the circuit closes again at the Kroisn crossroads (5 min from the managed alpine pasture) and you follow the ascent trail to the starting point.

Sleep one night at the hut and on the next day take aim at the Tamischbach Tower, the Tieflimauer or the crossing into the Mühlbachgraben.

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In the Gesäuse region, you're mobile even without your own car during the summer months. Just one call to +43 3613 2100099 is all it takes: within operating hours, the Gesäuse shared taxi will take you to any destination in the Gesäuse — with no fixed timetable or stops.

A parking lot with information boards is located at the National Park Pavilion in Gstatterboden. Just under a kilometre to the east is another car park with information boards. The paths that start from the different starting points then (as described in the text) come together after a few hundred metres.

All parking lots in the National Park area are subject to a fee.

Gesäuse Tourism Association

Hauptstraße 35, 8911 Admont, Austria
t: +43 3613 2116010
Email: info@gesaeuse.at
www.gesaeuse.at