A rocky trail through alpine meadows to a mountain hut, with views over the Schlegeis Reservoir the whole way up.
Austria, landlocked by eight countries in Europe, has in recent years become a magnet for tourism. For those with interests in history and architecture, Vienna is a perfect destination. Those who appreciate music will love Salzburg, home of one of the most famous composers of all time — Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Even Austria’s mountains calls to those who can’t get enough of snowy ski slopes or alpine trails!
As my family and I were planning to visit Austria this summer, we couldn’t ignore the Olpererhütte trail from the moment we came across it in the guidebooks — we also jump at opportunities to hike, as you know. After finding out that this was one of the most popular trails and sought after trails in Austria, we knew this was a hike we couldn’t miss out on!
We began our journey to the Olpererhütte trail from the town of Zillertal, which was only a 45 minute drive away. The Olpererhütte trail is a total distance of 4.3 miles, with an elevation gain of approximately 2,000 feet. As I had just returned back from climbing significantly bigger mountains Mount Fuji and Quandary Peak just a couple months before, I was in peak shape, and so this hike was not a challenge for me.
The terrain of this hike is mostly rocky trails, however there are a few sections that consist of walking through alpine meadows. The trail is mostly inclined however is not too steep. The view of the Schlegeis Reservoir, which is the stunning blue lake in all the photos, is visible from the very beginning of the hike.
In this photo, you can see the the terrain on some parts of this trail. I’m in the middle of the picture with the orange backpack!!
As my Mom isn’t as quick on the trails as my Dad and I are, my Dad walked slightly slower and stayed back with her to make sure she was drinking proper amounts of water and food, as it was an extremely hot day and dehydration is never a good sign on any mountain. As I had a backpack of my own with all necessary supplies, this gave me the opportunity to climb further ahead by myself for the first time. As this was quite a populated trail, I felt comfortable enough to do so, and I ended up really enjoying the experience.
As we continued our ascent, the landscape changed. The view of the Reservoir grew further and more expansive, and we grew closer to the rugged, rocky mountains that surrounded the Olpererhütte.
This was the view after completing around half the trail. As you can see, the view consisted of the pristine reserve and the mountains surrounding it.
A relatively short hike, it didn’t take us too long to reach the Olpererhütte. We reached just short of two hours. At the top of this hike is the Olpererhütte, which is a mountain hut built in 1881 by the former Prague Division of the German-Austrian Alpine Club. The Olpererhütte has a restaurant, as well as rooms for sleeping if you choose to stay overnight. As it was significantly cooler at the Olpererhütte, we decided to snack on some pretzels and energy bars at the outdoor restaurant.
Even at the Olpererhütte, we were able to see a great view of the reserve below. However, it was only about 5–10 more minutes to reach the iconic suspension bridge, and so we knew we couldn’t stop here.
As the Olpererhütte hike in Austria is very popular and can be crowded, the bridge is very commercial and is often quite busy during the day. This is because it is often called the most “instagrammable” spot in the Zillertal Alps. Although we started the hike fairly early, we were not able to avoid these crowds and had to stand in a queue to be able to take our own photos.
This is the view from the iconic suspension bridge. As you can see from the photo, I look clearly very content.
This was truly a very memorable experience, despite some crowds and wait times for the bridge. The Olpererhütte trail offered us stunning views of the Schlegeis Reservoir and all the surrounding mountains. The hike, which is not too difficult, remains a must-visit for everyone seeking stunning views and trails in the Austrian Alps.
