The locals in Val Venosta/Vinschgau roll their eyes when you approach them with this tour request. Why always the Goldseeweg, we have so many other beautiful trails, they say. That may be true, but the Goldseeweg trail is one of those experiences that a biker must do at least once in their life. You probably won't come across the trail's namesake again. Only after particularly snowy winters does the small grassy hollow at the second artillery position along the path fill up with water. When the first rays of sunlight touch the reddish rock flanks, the small body of water is said to glimmer with a touch of gold. A natural spectacle that unfortunately no one has been able to observe for a long time.
A Monday morning in July, shortly before nine o'clock: we are not alone on the 2757 metre high Silfserjoch. Several shuttle bus drivers are lifting bikes off their trailers. But the gravel ramp to the Dreisprachenspitze, 85 metres higher, quickly equalises the caravan of bikers. Once you reach the highest point, you don't know where to look first. Over your shoulder at the ice walls of the Ortler, which are almost close enough to touch, at the information board that tells of the bloody battles at the front up here or simply straight ahead on this fantastically beautiful trail. As if freshly swept, it cuts through the left mountain flank just below the rocky ridge that separates South Tyrol from the Swiss Val Müstair.
So let go of the brakes and get on the trail. At the latest at the rocky outcrop with the "Goldsee position", all bikers stop briefly to take a photo with the Ortler behind them. "Take the Bimbam Trail down to Trafoi, it's much nicer," the locals told us. That may be true. But it zigzags steeply down into the still shady valley. The Goldseeweg, on the other hand, continues to bask promisingly in the sunny mountain flank. And after all, you want to experience the original the first time round.
So on we go - up to the point the locals warned us about: The ground soon becomes more stubborn and suddenly there are only cubes of rock in the way. Even on foot, it's quite a stumble. At the Furkelhütte (2153 m), we get the feeling that the locals might have been right. Next to the viewing terrace, some bikers are whizzing back up on the chairlift from Trafoi. We would have missed 5.5 kilometres of the Goldsee trail with the detour down into the valley, but we couldn't ride about a third of it anyway. Well, next time then.
From the Furkelhütte, the section with the counter-climbs now begins. The 350 metres of elevation gain are spread over a slightly longer gravel climb and various short ramps interspersed with roots. Only at the "Siebenbrunnen" junction does the trail turn back onto a purely downhill course. The classic route would continue straight ahead here towards Glurnser Alm and from there take the 14er trail down into the valley on really fun forest trails. Unfortunately, there has been a no biking sign above this section since 2017. The alternative with the maximum number of permitted trails therefore branches off at the Siebenbrunnen path junction: a rooty forest and meadow zigzag down to Prad.
Info Goldseeweg
- Length: 25.2 kilometres
- Uphill: 329 metres in altitude
- Downhill: 1,884 metres in depth
- Trail section: 18.9 kilometres
- Difficulty: S1
The Goldseeweg trail is closed to bikers from 9 am to 4 pm. As some sections of the trail are quite exposed on the scree slope, an attempt is made to separate bikers and hikers between the Stilfserjoch and Furkelhütte. You can either ride the trail on the original route as shown here or take one of its two variants:
- Turn off trail no. 16, Bimbam Trail to Trafoi and take the chairlift back up to the Furkelhütte (20 min.).
- From the Stilfser Alm, climb 700 metres in altitude to Piz Chavalatsch and descend on the ridge trail (no. 14) towards Glurns. A sensational high mountain trail with only short climbs (only for very good bikers!).
Starting point / Shuttle
The tour starts at the 2757 metre high Stelvio Pass and the car journey from the Venosta Valley takes about an hour. In order to keep to the time slot for bikers, most shuttles leave from the valley between 7 and 7.30 am. Info: vinschgaubike.com, bikeshuttle.it and freeride-vinschgau.com
Cable car
For the variant with the Bimbam descent, you need the chairlift in Trafoi. This is in operation from June to October, daily 8.30-12.30 and 13.30-17
GPS data for the MTB trail Goldseeweg
The GPS data for the tour is available in our tour portal and is uploaded directly to the app:
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Gitta Beimfohr
Editor
