Small but beautiful - that's the best way to summarise this varied tour around the Durlassboden and into the Wildgerlostal valley. The beautiful ascent along the Gerlosbach stream and the stretches along the banks of the Durlassboden promise maximum riding fun without being too demanding. The panorama on the ride into the Wildgerlostal valley with glacier views is stunning. With the Bärschlagalm, the Alpengasthaus Finkau and the Seestüberl, there are also three worthwhile refreshment stops along the route. All in all, a perfect tour for ambitious beginners and families with older children.
After the start in the centre of Gerlos, you quickly branch off onto the small asphalt road that leads to the Isskogelbahn valley station and continues parallel to the Gerlosbach stream. An idyllic hiking trail leads along the Gerlosbach stream to the foot of the Durlassboden dam wall. Here you cross the Gerlospass road and cycle up to the dam wall.
This is the start of the circumnavigation of the Durlassboden. Cross the dam wall to the other side of the lake and then take the narrow hiking trail up to the Bärschlagalm. A refreshment stop could hardly be more beautiful, so it is hard not to take a break here. The path continues along the lakeshore into the Wildgerlostal valley. At the end of the valley, you can see the Wildgerloskees with the impressive three-thousand metre peaks of the main Alpine ridge (Wildgerlosspitze: 3,280 m, Reichenspitze: 3,303 m).
A tarmac road leads further into the Wildgerlostal valley, where the Alpengasthaus Finkau invites you to take another break. This is also the turnaround point of the tour, whereby you now roll along the tarmac road on the right-hand side of the lake on an almost flat route.
Now it gets exciting: the last part of the trail on the northern bank of the Durlassboden is not yet fully developed for bikers. A short carrying passage and wooden planks over swampy sections of the path provide variety. The third and final refreshment stop, the Seestüberl, follows at the dam wall.
From here, you cycle along the familiar path from the outward journey to the Gerlospass road. Follow this road uphill to the next hairpin bend. This is where the toboggan run begins, which leads back down to the Gerlosbach stream. From here it is only a few minutes back to the starting point of the tour in the centre of Gerlos.
Tip: If you don't feel you've had enough, you can continue into the Wildgerlostal valley, in the Hohe Tauern National Park, after the Alpengasthaus Finkau. The end is only five kilometres and 500 metres further on, at the material cable car to the Zittauer Hütte. From here, you can only continue on foot. This is as close as you can get to the glaciers in the Zillertal by bike.
INFO
Place
Gerlos is the easternmost village in the Zillertal. The border to Salzburger Land runs along the top of the Gerlos Pass. Gerlos lies at an altitude of over 1,200 metres. You can even ride up to the top of Gerlos' local mountain, the Isskogel (2,264 metres), by bike.
Accommodation
Zell-Gerlos Tourist Office, Service Centre Gerlos, 6281 Gerlos,
Tel. 0043/5284/5244-0, www.gerlos.at.
Food + drink
You can stop off three times on this tour: on the way there at the rustic Bärschlagalm at the Durlassboden reservoir, at the furthest point of the tour in the Wildgerlostal valley at the Alpengasthof Finkau, and on the way back directly on the lake in front of the dam wall at the Seestüberl.
Map
Compass map "Zillertaler Alpen - Tuxer Alpen", sheet 37, scale 1:50 000. Mayr hiking, cycling, MTB and touring map 1:35 000, sheet 32, Gerlos, bike map of Zillertal Tourismus GmbH 1:40 000, sheet 2 Zell-Gerlos and rear Zillertal (available from May 2007). Digital: Austrian Fly Map 4.0 of the Federal Office of Metrology and Surveying 1:50 000, www.bev.gv.at.
Starting point of the tour
The tour starts at the music pavilion in the centre of Gerlos, approx. 500 metres east of the church.
