Hiking Tour through the Reintal – from Partnachklamm gorge via Gatterl to Tyrol

The Reintal valley stretches at the foot of Germany’s highest mountain, the Zugspitze. This delightful adventure site is located just behind the Partnachklamm gorge, a popular excursion destination in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

The Reintal offers many beautiful hiking trails, of various degrees of difficulty and length. However, most hikers certainly come here to climb the Zugspitze. The route through the Reintal via Knorrhütte, is one of the “easiest” hiking trails to reach the summit of the Zugspitze and is accordingly popular.

For us it went this time not on the Zugspitze, but on a two-day hike to Ehrwald in the Austrian Tyrol.

A very scenic and panoramic route for pleasure hikers like us, with an altitude difference of about 800 meters and a walking distance of only 15 km per day.

Nevertheless, the highest point is at over 2,000 meters and the route partly leads over some loose scree, so that a certain degree of surefootedness and a head for heights is also a minimum requirement for the trail.

Since the Partnachklamm gorge is a popular attraction for tourists from all over the world – with more than 300,000 visitors per year – we expected that the Reintal valley would also be very busy.

But most of the visitors return directly to Garmisch-Partenkirchen after visiting the gorge. Certainly with a stopover in Toni Bartl Kaiserschmarrn-Alm, at least we would recommend so.

So it was a calm and relaxed hike for us. Perfect to relax from the daily grind!

Although we live near Garmisch-Partenkirchen, we only knew the Reintal as a route for climbing the Zugspitze. But there are many other worthwhile options. Even if it’s just for a cool drink in the beer garden of the Bockhütte.

In this article, we’ll show you why the Reintal is a great hiking area. No matter where the path then ultimately leads.

Partnachklamm

The starting point of the Partnachklamm is at the old olympic ski stadium, about 2 km northeast of the center of Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Next to the ski stadium is also directly the valley station of the Eckbauer cable car.

Although the parking lot is quite large, it fills up quickly on weekends and during the vacation season as a result, so it is advisable to arrive early if you want to find a space here. It is a hiking parking lot and you can park for up to 3 days for 2.50 euros per day. A very fair price.

The Partnachklamm itself can be reached from the parking lot in about 20 minutes on foot along the Partnach. For visitors who want to save themselves the walk or are really romantic on it, horse-drawn carriages are also available.

The Partnachklamm is, as the name suggests, a gorge carved by the Partnach River over the years. It is 800 meters long, up to 80 meters deep and is still being eroded by the Partnach, growing by about 1 cm every year.

The gorge is quite weather prone and is often closed for safety reasons during heavy rain, falling rocks and ice. But even in fine weather, it is impossible to leave the gorge completely dry. It then drips quite neatly from the rock walls.

On a hot summer day it is a very pleasant refreshment, but in bad weather it can get correspondingly cold, and packing a rain jacket is not a bad idea when visiting the gorge.

Inside the gorge, a narrow footpath leads directly along the raging stream of the Partnach, and it also goes through one or two rather low tunnels.

The reflection of the light on the water, which is mirrored between the narrow rock walls, is an impressive spectacle and makes one stay longer in the gorge than originally planned.

Hike through the Reintal

Behind the Partnachklamm also begins directly the Reintal. From here, many hiking and mountain bike trails start and a small outdoor paradise opens up.

As I mentioned at the beginning, the hiking trail to the rear Reintal quickly became solitary, although it was a sunny weekend in high season and the Partnachklamm was well visited. That’s the way we like it!

Our destination for the day is the Reintalangerhütte. The path to the hut is initially a normal forest path, which rises only slightly and is very easy to walk. The Partnach flows steadily along on the left side, perfect for refreshing yourself along the way, and you are always surrounded by mountains, which makes the hike a pure pleasure.

The trail becomes a little steeper after you reach the Bockhütte. The Bockhütte, which was renovated in 2011, does not offer overnight accommodations, but it is a good place to rest or even as a destination for a short day hike.

When the Partnach waterfall comes into sight, the Reintalangerhütte is not far away.

The Reintal is surrounded by huge mountains, but there is still quite little shade. On a sunny day, the hike can therefore be quite sweaty.

Fortunately, Reintalangerhütte is located right on the Partnach River, where you can dip your feet in the river with a beer in hand and relax undisturbed after a long day of hiking.

However, the water of the Partnach is so cold even in high summer. So the air mattress can stay at home!

Overnight stay at the Reintalangerhütte

This traditional mountain hut at an altitude of 1,369m was built in 1912 and is a listed building.

The hut belongs to the Munich section of the DAV and is accordingly popular with hikers because of its location. In addition to the mattress camp, there are several private rooms and we were lucky enough to still catch one of them.

The building itself is old but well maintained and we had a very comfortable night. Were even awakened by guitar music in the morning, gently. A nice service.

The bathrooms are also a bit outdated and the number of toilets is somewhat small compared to the number of guests. Longer queues are therefore quite normal and must be planned for.

But it’s a luxury to get a hot shower at all in this environment anyway, isn’t it? By the way, you have to pay for a shower. A shower coin costs 3 euros and you can shower for 4 minutes.

The owners as well as the staff of the hut are very friendly and attentive. Dinner (homemade cake for dessert!) and breakfast (great coffee!) were simple but delicious.

Ascent to the Knorrhütte

The next morning, freshly strengthened and with the sun on our necks, we continue to the Knorrhütte. If the tour was a smooth and easy hike so far, the real ascent begins here!

The distance to the Knorrhütte is only 3.8 km, but the elevation gain is 680 meters. From these numbers alone, you can see how steep the expected route is. So we calmly zigzagged our way up and were pleased to find a small refreshing fountain along the way.

The ascent also leads mostly over scree and we were glad to have our hiking poles with us. Even if you should not actually use them on scree or stony ground, they also support here.

The last climb, after the Knorrhütte comes into sight, is again exhausting, but the view from the hut is breathtaking and worth every effort.

At the Knorrhütte the trail splits and for hikers ascending to the Zugspitze, there is another 900+ meters of elevation gain from here.

On the 3-day Zugspitze hike, there is the option of spending the first day at the Reintalangerhütte and the second day leaving your backpack at the Knorr Hütte before climbing the Zugspitze and then returning to the Knorr Hütte.

It is also possible to take the cable car from the glacier station at the Zugspitzblatt to the Zugspitze, which saves about 400 meters of altitude.

So once you have reached the Knorrhütte, the Zugspitze is no longer so far away and the roughest part is already done!

Via Gatterl to Ehrwald

After a short break at the Knorrhütte, we hiked towards Ehrwald, the destination of our tour.
When we arrived at the Knorrhütte, we had already done most of the ascent for today’s tour, so from here on we enjoy a beautiful hike with panoramic views.

To get from the Knorrhütte to Ehrwald on the Austrian side, you have to cross the Gatterl, which is on the German-Austrian border.
Gatterl is at 2024m, which is almost the same altitude as Knorrhütte. From here the trail is much easier to follow. It is narrow and somewhat exposed, but as long as you watch your footsteps, you have a great panoramic path with views of the Reintal valley.

It seems that there are more hikers who hike from Ehrwald to the Knorrhütte or perhaps to the Zugspitze than those who hike from the Knorrhütte to Ehrwald.
Behind Gatterl there is a small section that is secured by rope. This is the only place on the tour where you have to be a little careful, but it is very harmless, as even Chizuru, who is afraid of heights, was able to pass it without any problems.

The view on the Austrian side is no less impressive, making it hard to continue.

Fortunately, Ehrwald is not far away and on the way you can enjoy the view from Feldernjöchl (2,041 m) and Brandjoch (2,120 m).

Ehrwald is located in the Zugspitze Arena between the Wetterstein and Mieminger ranges and is a well-known ski paradise in winter (especially for Dutch people).

Of course, it is also a popular destination in summer, thanks to the numerous hiking and mountain biking trails. Seebensee and Drachensee, two of the most famous Instagram hotspots, are also located in this area.

The Ehrwalder Almbahn mountain station has a great restaurant, a children’s playground and even a seminar room. We always joke that the public toilets here are the most luxurious and cleanest in Austria.

You can also descend to Ehrwald on foot, but this time we opted for the cable car down.
The ride down is not quite cheap at €12 per person, but it was just right for our tired legs after two days of hiking. In addition, we already know the road from our last ascent in the direction of Seebensee.

The train station in Ehrwald is still 3.5 km away from the valley station of the Almbahn, but there is a regular bus connection.

The view of the Zugspitze from Ehrwald station is so tremendous that it is not difficult to wait for the train, which comes only once an hour.

Garmisch-Partenkirchen is only 20 minutes away by train. It felt a little strange to cover the distance we had walked for two days in 20 minutes.

From the train station in Garmisch-Partenkirchen it is about 2 km to the olympic ski stadium, where we had parked our car two days ago. These 2 last kilometers on a flat road in a normal residential area stretches and is surprisingly exhausting. Next time we will probably just travel completely by train.