Ehrwald - Zugspitze (via Gatterl)

Access to starting point:
Through the Karawanks Tunnel, we drive to Austria, and then we continue driving towards Spittal and then towards Lienz (the highway ends a little after Spittal). Further, we drive on a relatively nice and wide road through the Drava Valley, which brings us to Italy. The road further leads past Dobbiaco / Toblach and Brunico / Bruneck. We still continue on the main road and then we join the highway towards Austria (direction Brenner, Innsbruck). In Innsbruck we continue on the highway which runs towards the west by the river Inn (at the highway junction direction Innsbruck-West). We leave the highway at the exit for the mountain pass Fernpaß. We continue driving through the mentioned mountain pass and when the road starts descending we continue right towards the town Ehrwald (at the exit there are also signs for Zugspitze). When we drive through the town Ehrwald we turn right towards the cableway Ehrwalder Almbahn. Further, the road starts ascending, and we all the time follow the signs for the mentioned cableway. We park on one of the parking lots at the bottom station of the cableway.

Path description:
At the bottom station of the cableway we first continue right on the road, and then after a few tens of meters we continue left on a macadam road following the signs »Ehrwalder Alm«.
From the crossroad a relatively gently sloping road runs by the forest and soon brings us to another crossing. At the crossing, we continue straight on the road, and the more demanding path (Immensteig) towards the lake Seebensee branches off to the right.
The road further runs by the ski slope by the edge of the forest and leads us past the bottom station of the chairlift and a smaller cottage by the path. At the cottage where a view opens up towards the summit Westliche Plattspitze, we continue slightly left and we start ascending a little steeper. The road then brings us into the forest and continues to ascend quite steeply. Higher, we come on the left side of the circular cabin cableway and we continue ascending through the forest. When we again come out of the forest on the ski slope, our path turns right and then again runs on the right side of the cableway. The road further all the time runs near the cableway by the ski slope. Such a path from which increasingly beautiful views also open up then soon brings us to the hut on the mountain pasture Ehrwalder Alm where there is also the upper station of the circular cabin cableway. It is otherwise also possible to reach the mountain pasture by cableway in the summer months.
From the upper cableway station we continue on a macadam road which quickly brings us to a crossroad. We continue on the left road, straight leads the path to the nearby inn Gasthof Alpenglühn and further towards the lake Seebensee and hut Coburger Hütte. After only a few tens of meters of walking we come to another crossroad. This time we continue on the macadam road slightly right and we follow the signs for mountain pasture Hochfeldern Alm.
Further, we for some time walk on a quite gently sloping macadam road which all the time runs towards the east. After approximately a little less than half an hour of walking from the mountain pasture Ehrwalder Alm, the path brings us to another marked crossroad.
We turn left on a footpath (Max Klotz Steig) towards the mountain pasture Hochfeldern Alm, straight on the road leads a slightly longer path to the same mountain pasture and the path towards the valley Gaistal. From the crossroad, we first ascend on a grassy slope by the ski slope, and then the path brings us into the forest. A well-beaten path through the forest first ascends a little steeper, and then in a gentle ascent crosses the slope towards the east. Such a path then soon again joins the macadam road. From here only a short ascent follows on the road to the hut on the mountain pasture Hochfeldern Alm.
At the hut we continue left on a footpath following the signs »Knorrhütte«. The path then ascends on grassy slopes above the hut and later turns a little to the right and brings us to a crossroad.
At the crossroad we continue right and then soon cross a stream. Further, the path ascends diagonally on grassy slopes, and higher we ascend for some time also through scrub. The scenic path here all the time runs towards the northeast and brings us to the saddle Am Brand below the slopes of the peak Östlicher Gatterlkopf.
On the saddle the path turns slightly to the left and brings us on somewhat steeper slopes. The path here descends a little and crosses slopes towards the northeast. Such a path then brings us to a marked crossroad on the saddle Feldern Jöchl.
At the crossroad we continue left towards the hut Knorrhütte, right leads the path into the valley Gaistal and to mountain pasture Rotmoos Alm.
From the crossroad the path first still descends a little and crosses slopes below the eastern slopes of the peak Östlicher Gatterlkopf. A short ascent follows to the saddle Gatterl where there is also the state border between Austria and Germany. During the ascent to the saddle the slope is somewhat steeper and some steel cables assist us.
From the saddle we descend a little more and a view opens up towards the valley Reintal and towards the summit Zugspitze. Further, the path for quite some time crosses relatively gently sloping slopes towards the north all the way to the hut Knorrhütte.
At the hut where there is a crossroad we continue left following the signs »Sonnalpin, Zugspitze«. The path from the hut starts ascending on scree towards the northwest and brings us below the walls of the peak Innere Höllentalspitze. The path then turns slightly to the left and becomes a little gentler. Here the path runs on the right side of a wide plateau named »Auf dem Platt«. From the path we have all the time a nice view on the ski slope and on the peaks above the mentioned plateau. A not overly steep path then for quite some time runs towards the west all the way to a crossroad a little before the restaurant Sonnalpin.
At the crossroad we continue right and we start ascending a little steeper on scree. The path here runs right of the hut Schneefernerhaus to which a train also runs from the town Garmisch-Partenkirchen. After the ascent on scree the path brings us to the beginning of the secured part of the path.
A well-secured path here runs on an even somewhat steeper rocky slope and ascends towards the ridge.
When we reach the ridge, a nice view opens up from the path towards the west. The path further runs along the ridge on the German side and soon the secured path Stopselziehersteig from the Austrian side joins from the left. At the crossroad there is also the abandoned Kammhotel where the upper station of the gondola cableway once was.
From the crossroad we continue further on the well-secured path along the ridge towards the summit Zugspitze. In the last part an ascent on stairs follows to the upper stations of the gondola cableways.
If we want to go also to the eastern summit on which a cross stands, we continue on the German side past the hut Münchener Haus and turn onto a short secured path towards the summit. The path here first descends a little, then ascends on a ladder to the ridge where more demanding secured paths from the German side join. Only a short ascent on the ridge follows to the summit from which a view opens up towards the glacier Höllentalferner and on the ridge towards the summit Alpspitze.

On the way: Ehrwalder Alm (1502m), Hochfeldern Alm (1732m), Am Brand (2120m), Feldern Jöchl (2041m), Gatterl (1897m), Knorrhütte (2052m), Sonnalpin (2576m), Schneefernerhaus (2656m), Kammhotel (2805m)