Seichenbrunn - Gartlsee

Access to starting point:
Through the Karawanks Tunnel, we drive to Austria, and then we continue driving towards Spittal and further towards Lienz (the highway ends a little after Spittal). Further, we drive on a relatively nice and wide road through the Drau valley. A little before Lienz at the roundabout, we continue right towards Iselsberg and Winklern. The road starts ascending, and then we have to pay attention because the road soon branches off to the left towards the Debanttal valley (green sign). The road towards the Debanttal valley becomes a macadam road, and later it joins a somewhat nicer road from the settlement Nußdorf-Debant. When driving through the Debanttal valley, we then follow the signs for the mountain huts Lienzer Hütte and Wangenitzseehütte. We follow the road all the way to a gate where we park on a large parking lot (Parkplatz Seichenbrunn).

Path description:
From the parking lot, we continue on a macadam road which is closed to traffic. Already after a few dozen meters, we come to a marked junction where to the right over a bridge the path towards the mountain hut Wangenitzseehütte branches off. At the junction, we continue ahead on the macadam road following the signs »Lienzer Hütte«. Soon after that, a learning path also branches off to the right towards the mountain hut Lienzer Hütte. This path is half an hour longer than by road. We continue further on the macadam road, which runs to the left of the Debantbach stream. The road ascends slightly all the time and crosses a grazing fence a few times. In the summer months, livestock grazes along the road. The road then leads us past a smaller cottage by the mountain pasture Gaimbergalm. Further on, we also cross smaller tributaries of the already mentioned Debantbach stream a few times. A little higher, the road brings us to a junction.

Right leads the road to the mountain pasture Hofalm, which is only 100 meters away. At the junction, we continue straight ahead on the road towards the mountain hut Lienzer Hütte from which we have an increasingly beautiful view of the peaks above the Debanttal valley. Shortly before the hut, we come to another marked junction.

This time a footpath branches off to the left towards the ski area Zettersfeld, and we continue on the road and soon come to the Lienzer Hütte hut from which there is a nice view of the surrounding peaks.

At the hut, we continue left past the children's playground and cross and already after a few dozen meters we come to a marked junction. To the left leads the path towards the notch Mirnitzscharte and the summit Alkuser Rotspitze, and we continue right following the signs »Hochschober, Leibnitztörl«.

The path from the junction runs towards the northwest among increasingly rare trees. Further on, the path then ascends along terrain covered with grass and low shrubbery. Soon we also enter the central part of the Hohe Tauern National Park (Nationalpark Hohe Tauern). The path then brings us to another junction.

To the right, initially downhill, the path branches off towards the summit Glödis, and we continue straight towards the saddle Leibnitztörl. From the junction, the path runs towards the west, slowly turns slightly to the left and then ascends somewhat more steeply along the stream upwards. A little higher, the path turns right, crosses the mentioned stream and brings us to somewhat less steep slopes. The relatively flat path then soon crosses the stream again and leads us past a smaller pond. The path then soon begins to ascend somewhat more steeply again and brings us to a marked junction.

This time the path towards the summit Hochschober and the saddle Schobertörl branches off to the right, and we continue left towards the saddle Leibnitztörl. From the junction, the path in a gentle ascent crosses the slope towards the south and quickly brings us to the mentioned saddle. From the saddle, only a short descent follows to the scenic lake Gartlsee from which there is a very nice view of the surrounding peaks.

On the way: Gaimbergalm (1753m), Lienzer Hütte (1977m), Leibnitztörl (2591m)

Trip can be extended to: Hochschoberhütte ( 30 min)