Hintersee and the Zauberwald from Ramsau

The walk starts at the Seeklause car park (P1) at the Hintersee. It crosses the Ramsauer Ache at the lake's outflow and follows a path through the Zauberwald, a forest growing over the boulders of an old rockfall, to a footbridge over the stream. A path climbs back to the Alte Hinterseer Straße, a gravel lane, and the north shore. From there the walk goes round the lake on the shore path, past the Seeklause shore and along the west and south shores, to the outflow and the car park.

It is 3.5 km round with 51 m of ascent; allow an hour to an hour and a quarter. The grade is Easy. The path round the lake is gravel throughout; the Zauberwald path has some steps and footbridges (ramsau.de). The lake loop alone is 2.5 to 2.7 km, and the Zauberwald nature trail from the same car park is 3.3 km.

Both the lake and the forest come from a rockslide about 3,500 years ago from the Hochkalter massif, whose boulders dammed the Ramsauer Ache; the Zauberwald is counted among the 100 most beautiful geotopes in Bavaria. The Zauberwald trail is cleared in winter. Rock and wooden bridges can be slippery when wet or icy, so take care. In winter step onto the frozen lake only when the ice has been officially released.

The Seeklause car park is charged: OpenStreetMap tags it as fee-paying. Buses 845 and 846 stop at Hintersee-Zauberwald, close to the start (ramsau.de); see the RVO timetable.

Route drawn by Global Adventurer along OpenStreetMap paths (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), with figures worked out from it. Check the forecast and the ground on the day: paths change.