This cozy and wonderful winter hike in Umhausen in the Ötztal offers nature enjoyment, fabulous things and live Christmas trees decorated by children.
At the parking machine we follow the signs “Winterwanderweg” and take a leisurely walk uphill on a path in the forest or at the edge of the forest. It goes past the (currently closed) Ötzi village and towards Stuibenfall. The route soon runs next to the Horlachbach, crosses it and takes us to the Waldcafé Stuböbele. From here you continue to follow the winter hiking trail up to the Stuibenfall. After a good 10 minutes you reach viewing platform 1 (around 1230 m), with Tyrol’s largest waterfall thundering down in the background. Then you follow the same route back to the Stuböbele, where you could stop off. We then leave the familiar route and walk along the winter hiking trail, past the Stuböbele on the right and slightly down to the point where the Steppsteig branches off to the right. Before you change to it, you follow the path downhill for a few meters to the legendary figure Stuib’n-Nannele. Valley location: Umhausen Starting point: parking lot (approx. 1070 m) at Ötzidorf or swimming lake in Umhausen (parking machine currently out of service) Route: cleared winter hiking trail, village street (winter hiking trail theoretically not cleared immediately after fresh snowfall; closed in case of ice) Equipment: sturdy shoes, sticks , possibly Grödel Requirements: no special requirements Children: from baby age Tobogganing: no Mountain buggy: depending on the weather (not when there is a lot of fresh snow or ice) Refreshments: Waldcafé Stuböbele, currently open Thursday to Sunday, www.stuboebele.at; Ötztalerei (In the center of Umhausen, near the Christmas market), Monday, Tuesday closed, www.oetztalerei.at Christmas market: Friday and Sunday open from 4 p.m. Public transport: Bus from Ötztal train station to Umhausen (stop “Fire Department”) Elevation difference: around 200 each Elevation gain in ascent or descent (entire loop) Length: around 6.5 kilometers (entire loop) Walking time: just under 2 hours (entire loop) Then back to the beginning of the step path and then at the edge of the forest with a great view of Umhausen, almost level to easy descending steadily towards the valley. During the course, living trees decorated by Umhauser children create a Christmas atmosphere (if the route splits towards the “Kurzentrum”). The route leads out of the forest and onto an access road – then down into the village to the Christmas market. Here over the bridge and at the TVB office in the village into the valley back to the starting point.
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