Parking Alpspitzbahn - Osterfelderkopf

Access to starting point:
Through the Karawanks Tunnel, we drive into Austria, then continue driving towards Spittal and further towards Lienz (shortly after Spittal the highway ends). Further, we drive on a relatively nice and wide road through the Drau Valley, which brings us to Italy. The road further leads past Dobbiaco / Toblach and Brunico / Bruneck. We continue on the main road and then join the highway towards Austria (direction Brenner, Innsbruck). In Innsbruck we continue on the highway, which runs west along the River Inn (at the highway junction direction Garmisch). We soon leave the highway at the exit for Garmisch. The road then starts ascending towards the Scharnitz pass, where there is the border between Austria and Germany. From the pass, we descend to the German side and follow the signs for Garmisch-Partenkirchen. When we drive through the mentioned settlement, we follow the signs for Austria and the settlement Ehrwald. A little before the end of the settlement Garmisch-Partenkirchen, we turn left where the signs »Alpspitze« direct us. We follow this road to the large parking lot at the bottom station of the cableways Alpspitzbahn and Kreuzeckbahn.

Path description:
From the parking lot, we head towards the bottom station of the cableway Alpspitzbahn and first cross the railway track, then head onto the macadam road that runs between both cableways. At the beginning, the macadam path leads past a few houses, and along the path we will also notice signposts that mark the path towards the hut Kreuzeck. The road then turns left and starts steeply ascending through the forest. Further, the road runs occasionally on the ski slope from which we get a view towards the settlement Garmisch-Partenkirchen and then again through the forest.

Later, the path brings us to a wider macadam road along which we continue right following the signs »Kreuzeck«. We follow the gentle wide road only for a short time, as the signposts soon direct us left onto a steeper road along the ski slope. Here the path leads past the artificial lake Speichersee and later rejoins the wider road. For some time we walk again on the mentioned road, then the signs for Kreuzeck direct us right onto the footpath.
Here we then ascend in zigzags through the forest, soon we come out of the forest again and a view also opens towards the summit Zugspitze. A short ascent follows along the ski slope and the path brings us to the private hut Trögelhütte.
At the hut, we continue right on the narrow macadam road, which after a short ascent we leave and continue on the footpath. Further, we ascend through the forest and along the path we will also notice signs on which various verses are written. Higher, the path brings us to the pasture Kreuzalm where we rejoin the macadam road. On the pasture where a beautiful view opens towards the summit Alpspitz, we continue right on the macadam road along which we soon reach the hut Kreuzeckhaus where there is also the upper station of the cableway Kreuzeckbahn.
At the junction located a little below the hut, we then continue left towards the pasture Hochalm. The path from the junction slightly descends and leads us past a vantage point along which there are also various signs. Here first from the left a footpath joins from the ski jumps in the settlement Garmisch-Partenkirchen and then from the right a path from the settlement Hammersbach. We continue on the macadam road which soon brings us to another junction.
At the junction, we continue left on the gentle road towards the pasture Hochalm, right uphill leads a somewhat longer path over the summit Längenfelder likewise to the pasture Hochalm. From the junction, the road runs south and from the left the path Bernadeinsteig from the hut Stuibenhütte joins us. The road further slightly ascends and brings us to the hut on the pasture Hochalm.
At the fork on the pasture, we continue slightly left on the road following the signs »Osterfelderkopf«, right leads the road towards the cableway Längenfelder and a somewhat steeper footpath towards the summit Osterfelderkopf where there is also the upper station of the gondola cableway Alpspitzbahn. From the fork, the road starts to ascend somewhat more steeply southwards and leads us past the smaller hut Bergwachthütte. Further, the road becomes gentler and soon a view opens on the precipitous north wall of the summit Bernadeinkopf along which there also runs an extremely demanding secured path (difficulty D/E). The gentle road then brings us to a marked fork. First from the left the path from the Reintal valley and the Bockhütte hut joins, shortly after that we reach another fork. This time the path Schöngänge towards the summit Alpspitze branches left as well as the already mentioned extremely demanding secured climbing path on Bernadeinkopf. At the fork, we continue slightly right on the macadam road that runs along the ski slope. Here we have from the path a very nice view of the north walls of the summits Bernadeinkopf and Alpspitze, along the path there are also numerous signs that describe the surroundings in an interesting way. Later the road turns right and leads us through a small notch from which a view towards the summit Osterfelderkopf opens.
Further, the path turns slightly left and then ascends on grassy slopes towards the summit. Higher, a steeper path from the pasture Hochalm joins us and only a short ascent remains to the summit Osterfelderkopf where there is also the restaurant Alpspitz and the upper stations of the cableways Alpspitzbahn and Hochalmbahn.

On the way: Speichersee (1230m), Trögelhütte (1436m), Kreuzeckhaus (1652m), Hochalm (1705m)

Trip can be extended to: Bernadeinkopf (1 h 15 min) , Alpspitze