Königstuhl - from Karlbad via the Eisentalhöhe

The Königstuhl, also known as the Great Königstuhl, is a 2,336 m high mountain in the Gurktal Alps in Austria. It lies on the border of the federal states of Carinthia, Styria and Salzburg. The Carinthian part of the mountain is part of the Carinthian Nockberge Biosphere Park, the Salzburg part of the Salzburg Lungau Biosphere Park. Larger towns nearby are Eisentratten, Innerkrems and, on the Styrian side, Turrach. Our beautiful round trip from the historic Karlbad: We hike through a lovely landscape with colorful alpine meadows, but also encounter numerous cows and their tracks up to the summit region of the Nockberge in Carinthia. Our starting point, the historic Karlbad, is a spa that can look back on a tradition spanning more than 300 years. Bathing is open in the morning, and the spa can be visited by appointment in the afternoon. The beautiful old inn, on the other hand, tempts us to stop off for a cozy break without reservation. Directions From the car park we walk past the Karlbad and immediately afterwards turn left over the bridge to the opposite side of the stream. Now we hike uphill along the stream, initially through a sparse larch forest, then over colorful alpine meadows, past blooming alpine roses and weather-beaten stone pines, to the wide saddle of the Friesenhals, 2075 m; here the path from the Eisentalalm car park joins in from the west. Just a few meters off the path is the Friesenhalssee, 2150 m, a pretty rest area with a beautiful view of the Hochalmspitze. The wide path then takes us along the Friesenhalshöhe to the Königstuhlscharte and from there in steep serpentines to the summit of the Königstuhl. The view is wide over the gently rounded nocks to the glacier mountains of the Hohe Tauern. On the descent we hike south over the wide summit ridge to the Karlnock, turn left there and climb steeply downhill over the ridge to a notch. From there we hike south down to the lovely Stangboden, 1,950 m, and continue west through a light larch forest and blooming alpine roses down to the Karlbad. Roland and Eva wish you lots of fun on the hike

A beautiful three-peak circular tour in the Nockberge Mountains, starting from the highest point of the Nockalm Road, which opened today. Few snowfields above 2000 meters, with summer temperatures and good visibility. On top of that, the first marmot sightings 🦫 of the year.