Kühtai – The Three Lakes Circuit

Wonderful, alpine mountain landscapes, hiking tours and refreshing, idyllic mountain lakes. You can find all of this in Kühtai. Kühtai is located at the end of the Sellraintal and is not far from Innsbruck and quickly accessible by car or public transport.

Today I would like to tell you about a particularly beautiful, but very easy hike, the Drei-Seen-Runde. However, I will walk it in a slightly different way. The hike is manageable for everyone and even offers five mountain lakes on its route and a magnificent high alpine mountain landscape.

The starting point is the Drei-Seen-Bahn in the centre of Kühtai. This chairlift is open throughout the summer and into the autumn. You should start the tour by midday at the latest, so that you can also rest at certain places and enjoy the landscape. This tour is particularly attractive in June and July. In these months, the magnificent alpine rose blossoms accompany us at every turn. I have also walked this hike in autumn – a completely different ambience and highly recommended. I will walk the route slightly modified from the usual route, about which you can find info here: Three Lakes Hike

Three-Lakes-Hike

The chairlift brings me quickly up to 2,420 meters, a bit above the Drei-Seen-Hütte. By the way, the leisure ticket is valid here. The ascent costs otherwise very reasonable €13,-. For guests who stay at least two nights there is the Welcome Card. This includes a ride on the Drei-Seen-Bahn and the bus ride to Kühtai.

When I get off the bus, I already have the first highlight in front of me. Framed by high alpine terrain and a few remaining snowfields, it lies glistening in the sun with its turquoise water. It is the upper Plenderlessee.

The Upper Plenderlessee – Photo: Danijel Jovanovic Photography

Upper Plenderlessee – Photo by Danijel Jovanovic

From here we continue towards the Drei-Seen-Hütte. This is located directly at the next lake of our tour, the Lower Plenderlessee. The Drei-Seen-Hütte is open daily from 9:00 to 17:00 and is a very good place to stop. I recommend that you stop by the hut on the way back.

Lower Plenderlessee, connected by a stream with the Upper Plenderlessee – Photo: Danijel Jovanovic Photography

The Three Lakes Hut is idyllically located above the Lower Plenderlessee – Photo by Danijel Jovanovic Photography

From the lower lake the “Höhenpanoramaweg” leads me to the Finstertal dam and its reservoir. The path is wide and not too steep and I reach the lake in about 20 minutes. You have great views here, and for the more athletic I can only recommend the climb to the “Mut”. At the end of the dam, I follow the steep path up to the wooden summit cross and enjoy the breathtaking view of the surrounding mountains and the Finstertal reservoir.

At the summit of Vordere Mut with great views of the surrounding mountains – Photo: Danijel Jovanovic Photography

I return via the dam and the panorama path back to the Drei-Seen-Hütte. While I lie down in one of the many deck chairs and soak up the sun, I study the menu, which offers all kinds of home-style cooking. After a refreshing drink and excellent food, I am invigorated enough to continue the tour.

The trail will lead me to two more mountain lakes. The next destination is the Mittlerer Plenderlessee, before I finally reach the Hirschebensee. The path is narrow, but very easy to walk and passing many sheep, there are always great photo opportunities for me. It takes about 20 minutes until I reach the middle of the Plenderlesseen. A sea of blossoms of alpine roses lines the shore. Really wonderful. I decide to linger for a while and wait for better light, as the cloud cover has increased a bit. The lake lies in a small depression, some marmots can be heard whistling in the distance, otherwise I enjoy the wonderful silence.

Kühtaier mountains – Photo: Danijel Jovanovic Photography

The path to the middle Plenderlessee offers some great photo opportunities – Photo: Danijel Jovanovic

Middle Plenderlessee – Photo by Danijel Jovanovic

The last lake of the Three Lakes Hike is the Hirschebensee. The trail now continues and leads me steadily downhill as behind a rocky outcrop the lake lies in full splendor before me. I marvel at the sight with the slope lined with alpine roses. And again this silence. There is absolute silence, only the buzzing of the bees can be heard, enjoying the sea of blossoms. Arrived at the lake I use one of the numerous benches for a short rest. Horses and cows graze here and as a photographer I find the perfect mountain idyll. After a few shots I make my way down into the valley. A wide path leads in about 30 minutes directly to Kühtai and the starting point, the valley station of the Drei-Seen-Bahn. If you only want to visit the Hirschebensee, you can walk up this path from Kühtai. Signposts are available in the village.

View of the Hirschebensee lake with a sea full of blooming alpine roses – Photo: Danijel Jovanovic Photography

Haflinger at the Hirschebensee – Photo: Danijel Jovanovic Photography

Horses amidst alpine roses – Kühtai – Photo by Danijel Jovanovic Photography

A calf in the middle of alpine roses – Kühtai – Photo by Danijel Jovanovic Photography

At the end of my hike, it remains to say that it really is manageable for everyone. Thanks to the lift, you don’t walk many meters in altitude and the paths are very well maintained. Besides five mountain lakes, you can also climb a peak, have a good stop at the Drei-Seen-Hütte and enjoy the high alpine terrain. A tour that is not very strenuous, but offers a lot. Especially for photography enthusiasts there are many motifs on this tour.

More info

• Info about the Three Lakes Railway
• Postbus Innsbruck-Kühtai
• Photos: © Danijel Jovanovic Photography: http://www.djphotography.at or http://www.facebook.com/Photogr aphyDJ