I discovered the beauty of the Ammergau Alps last year and decided that there are still some peaks waiting to be climbed by me. From Munich you can reach Oberammergau in less than an hour and when you enter Ettal you feel almost like you are in another country – which may be due to the proximity to Austria. The region offers tours for all levels, but especially many moderately difficult mountain tours with magnificent views. If you like a bit of scrambling, the Ammergau Alps are just right for you!
This time I’ll take you up to the Teufelstättkopf – a circular hike that can be done from different paths. And on the summit you are very close to heaven.
Tour dates
- Start and end point: Schleifmühle car park
- Duration / walking time: 4 hours
- Path length: 11 km
- Vertical meters: 880 hm
- Difficulty: Medium
- Refreshment stop(s): August-Schuster-Haus (open all year, closed in April and November)
Tour description
It is Sunday 7 am, the alarm clock rings and the rain patters loudly on our roof window. Yesterday, nothing but sunshine was announced for today, the backpack was already packed for fair weather. Not exactly the kind of motivation you need to get up on Sunday morning, but we do it anyway. The weather forecast had turned overnight and the forecast “rain until 12 o’clock” doesn’t exactly make us break out in joy. But as the dear mothers always like to say: “There is no bad weather, just the wrong clothes”. And so we additionally pack our rain jackets into the backpack.
When we reach the parking lot at the Schleifenmühle, there are already about ten other vehicles. Because of the weather we are very surprised about this. But before we venture out into the rain we eat our porridge in the quiet hope that it will stop soon – small spoiler: that should take a little longer. Full of motivation we put on our rain jackets, put the rain covers on our backpacks and start the tour.
As there are many different ways to the Teufelstättkopf, it makes sense to plan the tour in advance. We go up the tour via the Kühalm and back via the August-Schuster-Haus (Pürschlinghaus).
Tip: Only a few meters from the parking lot the Schleifmühlenklamm begins, which has some nice little waterfalls and which you can walk through over some very well secured stairs, ladders and bridges. You should not miss these in any case! (duration about 15 min)
The first part of the tour is not very spectacular, as we walk for 30 minutes on a very wide forest road before we reach an artificially created reservoir. Here, the path splits up to the left and right, we turn right and follow the signs to Kühalm. For another 30 minutes we walk on a forest road towards our destination. At least it hasn’t been raining so hard in the meantime and we can watch how the clouds sink down further and further. However, this also makes it colder and more uncomfortable again.
When we arrive at the Kühalm we finally leave the forest road and turn left onto a small forest path. Slowly the path becomes steeper and in our case also more and more slippery due to the heavy rain. We have to be careful not to slip by mistake, which is an advantage especially during the rest of the hike. To the left the path becomes more exposed and we pass some places where we have to walk very carefully because of the rain. Otherwise we face the risk to loose grip on the wet stones of the slope. This is also where we use our hands for the first time. Who is not sure-footed should rather not go this way in the wet!
Shortly before the summit the terrain becomes rockier and more exposed, the latter is no problem for us. Since the path is full of twisted roots, one should be very careful here as well. But we enjoy it very much, because the mountain path here is very varied and it is simply always wonderful to walk on a path surrounded by mountain pines.
Tip: From the ridge you have a great view of the Forggensee and even of the Zugspitze in good weather.
After about one hour we reach the key point to the summit, which is secured with a wire rope – but for experienced climbers it is sometimes easier to climb the small slope without using the rope. With (good) visibility you have a great view up here: a panorama from Lake Starnberg to the Zugspitze. There are numerous peaks of the Ammergau Alps, e.g. the neighbouring peaks Laubeneck and Hennenkopf to the west, the Notkarspitze to the southeast and the famous Laber to the east – which can be easily reached by cable car.
Because the summit is quite small and it becomes too full for us fast we scramble down again and look for a comfortable small rock on which we have a snack. Again and again a small window in the sky opens and we hope that the clouds soon disappear. We spend a whole hour below the summit and are amazed about the cloud spectacle. Towards the south the visibility becomes clearer and clearer and so we decide to descend slowly.
But before we climb a small hill to get a view towards Brunnkopf. Despite the unsettled weather, the atmosphere is somehow mystical and unique. Because the clouds are constantly changing direction, there are always new views in front of us. Also here a proverb is true: “pictures say more than 1000 words”.
The descent is just as unspectacular as the ascent began. If you don’t have a snack in your backpack or feel like having to taste delicious Kaiserschmarrn, you can stop at the August-Schuster-Haus (Pürschlinghaus) and enjoy the great view of the Ammergau Alps from the terrace. We follow the signs in the direction of Unterammergau on the wide forest road and let our tour come to a cosy end.
Tip: If you like, you can stop at the beautiful Josephskapelle on the descent and enjoy the view back to the hut and the summit of Teufelstättkopf.
More impressions from Maria’s hike to the Teufelstättkopf:
Recommended: Everything you need to know about hiking.
