Round the Piburger See from Piburg

From the car park at the Hotel Seerose in Piburg a short footway and service road lead down to the Piburger See, a lake about 800 m long and a natural monument since 1929. Take the flat, wide path along the south (right-hand) shore to the Seehäusl, the lakeside inn at the south-east end. Then come back along the north shore on a narrower path through the trees, which Ötztal Tourismus calls the natural and untouched side of the lake, round the north-west end and back to the car park by the way you came down.

It is 3.1 km round with 55 m of ascent; allow about an hour (the tourist board says a walk round the lake takes about an hour). The grade is Easy. The south shore up to the Seehäusl suits pushchairs, says Ötztal Tourismus; the north shore is mapped as a mountain-hiking path, so roots and rougher ground are likely, and it is not for wheels.

Tirol.at says swimming is allowed only through the lido in the south-east of the lake, that motorboats, camping and barbecues are not allowed, and that the white water lilies are strictly protected. The lake lies in the Naturpark Ötztal and the Achstürze-Piburger See landscape protection area. Ötztal Tourismus's longer Wasserläufer route climbs steeply from the lake to the Seejöchl, a viewpoint that it says rewards the climb with a view over the landscape; this short round does not.

The Piburg car park at the Hotel Seerose is charged (Ötztal Tourismus; OpenStreetMap fee=yes). The Seehäusl and other refreshment stops are listed by the tourist board; their opening days are not given here.

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.