Blauberge - Halserspitze

Overview

Beautiful and wealthy Tegernsee valley within Bavarian Alps bends from a south - north direction to an east - western direction at Wildbad Kreuth, an old and once famous spa. Behind the village of Kreuth the initially broad valley with meadows and many farm houses gets narrow and more canyon like. It is the huge massive of Blauberge constricting the valley and sort of “blocking” it.

Blauberge, the Blue Mountains, is a broad and nearly 12 km long ridge within Bavarian Alps. Starting near Achenpass in the west and ending at a col east of Halserspitze, Blauberge have two “stand-alone” culmination points and several named summits, which have not a very prominent position within the ridge.

The main summits are

Schildenstein (1613 m; 5292 ft)

Halserspitze (1862 m; 6109 ft), the highest peak of the ridge

Minor summits are

Predigtstuhl (1562 m; 5125 ft)

Wichtlplatte (1765 m; 5791 ft)

Blaubergschneid (1787 m; 5863 ft)

Blaubergkopf (1787 m; 5863 ft)

The latter can easily be traversed while climbing Halserspitze. They have less than 100 meters of altitude difference to the separating cols east and west of them so they are included in the page for Halserspitze.



The northern limitation of Blauberge is Tegernsee valley, Weißach valley and Langenau valley. In the south Filzmoosbach valley is limitating Blauberge, thus building the borderline between Bavarian Alps and Brandenberger Alpen.

Another borderline runs along the ridge crest: the German - Austrian border, marked with many white boundary stones.

The southern slopes of Blauberge are more gentle than the northern ones; meadows, woods and dwarf pines are building the southern mountain sides.
To the north Blauberge show a rugged and rocky appearance with deep erosion gullies and little creeks. Wolfsschlucht is a famous deep canyon on the northern mountain side of Blauberge.

My favourite is the complete traverse of the ridge, starting at Wildbad Kreuth. Climb up the Wolfsschlucht (easy rock scramble) and do your peak bagging: Schildenstein as a short detour, than the traverse of the whole ridge until you reach Halserspitze. On a clear and sunny autumn day this will be like a walk in heaven: from the sharp ridge crest you have breathtaking views to all directions. On the south slopes near the crest you will find nice meadows for a break and a nap. And 7 to 8 hours walk for the whole traverse will make a satisfying day for your stamina, too.

Getting There

Main summer and winter trailheads for Blauberge are:

Wildbad Kreuth and nearby hiker parking areas

Schwarze Tenn trailhead for Schildenstein winter (and summer) ascents

Achenwald trailhead for southern ascent routes and starting point for mountain bikers

From Munich

use highway A 8 to the exit “Holzkirchen” and road number B 318 / B 307 to Gmund am Tegernsee and Rottach-Egern or Kreuth.

for the trailhead Wildbad Kreuth pass through Kreuth village until you reach a hikers parking area left of the road where the road to Wildbad Kreuth branches off B 307.

alternatively go on for some more 100 meters until you reach a hiker parking area left and right of the road.

for the Schildenstein / Schwarze Tenn trailhead go on about 1,5 km until you reach the parking areas left and right og road number B 318 in front of a huge clearing in the woods

for the southern trailhead go on B 318, pass Achenpass and the German - Austrian border and follow road number 181 until you reach the little village of Achenwald. Look for places to park your car.

From Innsbruck / Inntal valley

leave the highway A 12 (toll road in Austria) at the exit Wiesing / Jenbach and follow the road number 181 to Achensee, Achenkirch, Achenwald (southern trailhead), Achenpass and road number B 307 to Wildbad Kreuth or the other above mentioned trailheads.

Railway

The private railway BOB - Bayerische Oberlandbahn has hourly services from Munich to Tegernsee. At the Tegernsee railway station there are bus services to Kreuth / Wildbad Kreuth and to the other above mentioned trailheads.

See the BOB railway schedule here .

See the public bus schedule here . Lines: 9550, 9556

Routes Overview

Blauberge as seen from the Wolfsschlucht trail

On the ridge of Blauberge

Halserspitze view to the south

Northern Routes

Schildenstein

1. Königsalm route: starting at Schwarze Tenn Trailhead, follow trail number 615a to Kaiseralm and number 615 to the summit. This is the ski hike route, too.


2. Gaißalm / Königsalm route : starting at the Wildbad Kreuth trailheads follow trail number 615 to Gaißalm, Königsalm and to the summit.


3. Wolfsschlucht trail: starting at the Wildbad Kreuth trailheads follow the forest road to Siebenhütten and the marked trail to Wolfsschlucht. At the col east of Schildenstein take the right trail directly to the summit.

The first and second route form a nice traverse with the third route.

Schildenstein

Schildenstein as seen from Wichtplatte

Wolfsschlucht and Wenigberg ridge (right) as seen from Halserspitze

Blauberge / Halserspitze

1. Wolfsschlucht trail: starting at the Wildbad Kreuth trailheads follow the forest road to Siebenhütten and the marked trail to Wolfsschlucht. At the col east of Schildenstein take the left trail and the next left again (trail number 615) to Predigtstuhl, Wichtlplatte, Blaubergschneid, Blaubergkopf and Halserspitze.


2. Wenigberg - Weißenbach route: starting at the Wildbad Kreuth trailheads follow the forest road to Siebenhütten, cross the Hofbauernweißach creek and follow trail number 615 to Wenigberg, Wenigberghütte, Stangenhäusl and (exposed, steep) Halserspitze.

Halserspitze and Blaubergkopf as seen from Blaubergschneid

Blauberge ridge a s seen from Halserspitze

Halserspitze as seen from Blaubergkopf

Southern routes

At the south side of Blauberge there are many forest roads, connecting Blauberalm, Schönleitenalm, Sindelsdorfalm and Gufferthütte (Aschenbrenner Hütte) with the southern valleys. All these forest roads start at or near the little village of Achenwald.

Gufferthütte is about an hour below Halserspitze.

The Blauberge ridge crest can be reached from the south only at Blaubergalm in the west or Sindelsdorfalm / Gufferthütte in the east due to the dense dwarf pine vegetation on the Blauberge south slopes.

Red Tape & Accommodation

Red Tape

As far as I know there are no special restrictions around Blauberge

Accommodation

Valley accommodations

Hotels, Bed & Breakfast, restaurants and campgrounds can be found mainly in the following villages:

Tegernsee

Rottach - Egern

Kreuth

Mountain huts and inns

Gufferthütte on the south side of Halserspitze

Blaubergalm on the south side of Wichtlplatte, a beautiful private Alm hut

Siebenhütten, a private hut, only food and drinks

Gear & Mountain Conditions

Blauberge is an all-season mountain.

In spring, summer and autumn it is a sometimes long hike which requires normal hiking gear and, depending on the snow cover in spring, gaiters, too.

The northern ascents / descents, like Wolfsschlucht route or Wenigberg route, require a little scrambling. Wolfsschlucht route is partly secured with iron ropes. In late autumn and winter the northern routes can be difficult due to ice or snow. Several fatal accidents happened in the last years!

In winter only Schildenstein it is a ski hike (routes from Schwarze Tenn trailhead). The ski tour is for beginners but - as always on ski tours don´t forget your avalanche gear.

Check the weather forecast here.

Check the Bavarian avalanche bulletin here.

Current Weather:

Maps & Guide Books

The most detailed maps for Blauberge are:

Alpenvereinskarte 1 : 25.000
Blatt BY 13: Mangfallgebirge West, Tegernsee, Hirschberg
2009

Alpenvereinskarte 1 : 25.000
Blatt BY 14: Mangfallgebirge Süd, Guffert, Unnütz, Juifen
2010

The easternmost parts of the area is on the map:

Alpenvereinskarte 1 : 25.000
Blatt BY 15: Mangfallgebirge Mitte, Spitzingsee, Rotwand
2009

Additionally you can use:

Topographische Karte von Bayern, 1 : 50.000
Blatt 12, Mangfallgebirge, Tegernsee, Schliersee, Rosenheim
2005

Images

View Blauberge - Halserspitze Image Gallery - 24 Images