A low altitude Achensee loop

Technical difficulty: 3/10
Fitness: 8/10
Objective danger: 2/10
Landscape: 8/10
Busy: 4/10 (last downfill 7/10)

A great loop around Achensee, avoiding the main ridges and taking a lower route through the mountains. Great for early in the season.

Starting point: Parking on the shores of Achensee
Ending point: Parking on the shores of Achensee
Length: 33.5km
Vertical: 2000m
Speed: Nice and runnable route.

Route:

We start our run nice and flat on the banks of Lake Achen, following the path towards Pertisau. At the start of the village, we turn onto the Naturparkstraße and run through and out of the village, following the road towards Gemalm. After a couple of kilometers, we leave the road northwards, following the signs towards Pasillalm. The trail gets steeper and climbs all the way until reaching a saddle at ~1680m. After a short downhill to Pasillalm, we connect to a forest road leading uphill from the hut for a short while before starting the long descent.

We follow the forest road down until Seekaralm. From here we continue downhill in a combination of forest road and trail (you can pick your own adventure) until reaching the shores of the lake again at Achenkirch. We have managed half of the loop and this is also the only bail-out point.

We start climbing again, in south-east direction towards Köglalm. This is a great place to stop for some food and drink in the summer season. After passing the hut, we veer off southwards on the most beautiful part of this trail - the traverse to Kotalm Mitterleger. Follow this awesome single track through rolling hills until reaching the Kotalm hut.

From here, we enter a wide and impressive valley and start climbing again gently towards the “Stone Gate” (Steineres Tor). The trail gets a bit steeper on the last few hundred meters, but not overly technical, before reaching a narrow pass between rocks.

It is all downhill from here! Start descending through alpine meadows towards the Dalfazalm - another great place to stop for a break. There are multiple ways to get back to the lakeside from here. We have chosen the steep trail passing by Teisslalm and then traversing the hillside on the T2 trail to avoid as much road as possible.

Once you reach the village of Maurach and join the road again, make your way back to the lakeside bike path and follow it back to your car.

Pro tip: Highly recommend dip in the lake afterwards during the summer months.

Photos by @bennibru and @the.running.nomad