1. The Ludwigsburger Hütte

The Ludwigsburger hütte (formerly named Lehnerjoch hütte) is located at 1935 meters above sea level on the western slope of the northern ‘Geigenkammes’ in the Pitztal valley, just below the treeline on an idyllic meadow. It is surrounded by the romantic landscape of the Oetztal Alps (‘Ötztaler Alpen’).

The Ludwigsburger hütte is family friendly due to its location and its amenities. It is recommended by the alpine club ‘Alpenverein ‘ in the brochure “Mit Kindern auf der Hütte” (With children at the hut). A large playground for small children is located in the front of the hut and an eight-meter-high climbing rock is situated above the hut for elder children.

The view across to the mountains of the Kaunergrat is one of the nicest views in the Eastern Alps (‘Ostalpen’). Several hiking trails lead to surrounding peaks and neighboring huts. One of them is the ‘St. Leonharder Höhenweg’, which leads through lonely mountain landscapes with magnificent views. Some of the peaks are reachable via easy climbing routes (up to difficulty level III).

In the surrounding environment you will find alpine flora and animals such as for example ibex, chamois, deer, marmots, grouse and mountain salamanders.

2. The trail

The hiking trail of 3.6 km to the Ludwigsburger hütte starts just above the small village Zaunhof and crosses several times the forest road before it reaches the hut. During the hike you can see the northern Kaunergrat at the other site of the Pitztal valley, including a view on the 3353 m high Rofelewand with even in summer time ice on the northern face.

It takes about 2.5 hours for people used to heights to reach the Ludwigsburger hütte. We did it in 4.5 hours while enjoying the views during longer breaks and taking pictures. Walking back to Zaunhof took us 1.5 hours (including total of 15 minutes of small breaks).

The village Zaunhof, starting point of the hike to the Ludwigsburger hütte

2.1 Map

2.2 Starting point

The hiking trail starts in Pitztal at the small village Zaunhof-Grüble (St. Leonard) near the materials lift of the Ludwigsburger hütte, where also a small parking lot is situated.

To get there by car drive from the beginning of the Pitztal valley via Arzl, Wenns, Schön, Wiesle and Ritzenried towards the village Wiese. Roughly a kilometer after Wiese a  sign indicates the road to Zaunhof at the left side of the road. Carefully cross the road and follow the signs to Zaunhof/Zaunhof-Grüble till the parking lot of the materials lift. The building of the materials lift can be recognized by the wall painting of the Ludwigsburger hütte.

Wall painting at the materials lift of the Ludwigsburger Hütte

Using public transport is also possible. The Pitztaler bus stops at Zaunhof-Moosbrücke from where the materials lift can be reached by a 15 minutes walk.

2.3 Turn-by-turn directions

Walk along the materials lift building (at left side) and take the first street at the left (towards Außerlehn-Oberlehn). Continue on this road till the little Chapel at the right as shown in the photos below.

Just above the chapel the hiking trail towards the Ludwigsburger hütte starts. When the forest road is encountered it can be decided to follow this road, which is easier to follow then the hiking trail described in this article. The hiking trail follows largely the historical road “Historischen Almenweg”, which was specially made to built the Ludwigsburger hütte in 1930.