Overview
Blauberge at sunset as seen from Wolfsschlucht
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
Minor summits are
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.
Autumn colours
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
Blauberge are a nice outlook ...
Main summer and winter trailheads for Blauberge are:
From Munich
From Innsbruck / Inntal valley
Blauberge as seen from the Wenigberg trail
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.
Routes Overview
Blauberge as seen from the Wolfsschlucht trail | On the ridge of Blauberge | Halserspitze view to the south |
Northern Routes
- 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.
- Gaißalm / Königsalm route : starting at the Wildbad Kreuth trailheads follow trail number 615 to Gaißalm, Königsalm and to the summit.
- 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
- 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.
- 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.
Halserspitze 360 degree summit panorama
Red Tape & Accommodation
The rocky northern slopes of Blauberge
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:
Mountain huts and inns
Gear & Mountain Conditions
Föhn clouds above Großglockner mountains as seen from Halserspitze
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
Silver thistle on the slopes of Halserspitze
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