Hike on the Katrin: Enjoy nature above Bad Ischl in Upper Austria
The owners of the Katrin cable car describe themselves as “The most beautiful cable car in the Salzkammergut”. Since 1959, the charming 4-seater cable car has been taking residents and guests of the spa and imperial city Bad Ischl high on the Katrin AlmIn a leisurely 15 minutes you can reach the nature reserve at 1,400 meters above sea level. We tested whether a hike on the Katrin really lives up to this perfect image.
Tour dates:
- Start: Parking lot of the Katrin cable car (Kaltenbachstraße 62, 4820 Bad Ischl)
- Cost of the cable car: Here you can find the current rates.
- Opening hours: DAILY from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. First ascent: 9:00 a.m. I Last ascent: 4:30 p.m. I Last descent: 5:00 p.m.
- Refreshment options: Katrin mountain inn directly at the mountain station or in the Katrin Almhütte, 5 minutes away!
- Pure walking time: 1:30 hrs – 2-30 hrs (depending on which variant you take). We take the blue route, see photo below
- Difficulty: Easy to moderate
- Season: May to mid-October
We park at the valley station of the Katrin cable car. You go up by gondola.
Already from the gondola, we had a beautiful view of Bad Ischl , the valley and the surrounding mountains. It takes about 12 minutes to drive up.
The hike (blue route)
We start our hike on the Katrin at 10:25 am at the gondola station on the mountain. The first destination is the summit cross of the Kathrin. You go up over stone and wooden steps. Again and again you have a fantastic view of Bad Ischl and Lake Hallstatt, and on the other side of Lake Traunsee.
After about 40 minutes (approx. 11:00 a.m.) you reach the summit cross. From up here you have a wonderful panorama. We can see at least 4 different lakes from here, but there may be more. In any case, the view is magnificent.
We now walk back 5 minutes and turn right off towards the 7-Lakes hikeAt around 11:20 we reach the Elferkogel and thus the next summit cross on this hike
From now on we walk downhill on stony paths through the forest. After a few minutes we come to a junction where there is a path to the right to summit of Hainzen goes (the complete route), on the left you shorten the 7-lake hike a bit and go towards the cable car. So we do the smaller loop. The complete 7-lake hike would take about 2.5 hours.
After a short while we come out onto the mountainside again. We turn left back towards the mountain station. It is now 11:40 a.m. During the descent you can see Bad Goisern and Lake Hallstatt the whole time, a truly beautiful backdrop.
At 12:05 we reach the viewing platform, from which the view is actually no better than during the entire hike. In our opinion, the platform is somewhat pointless, since you can see just as well without it.
At 12:10, after 1 hour 45, we return to the starting point.
Time for lunch. We were recommended the "Katrin Almhütte", the mountain hut below the mountain station (not to be confused with the one directly next to the cable car). To get there, walk down the serpentine for another minute.
We are really hungry and both order the Gosauer oven roast, made from straw-fed wild boar with napkin dumplings and cabbage. It tastes simply wonderful. The meat falls apart with a fork, the gravy is world-class, the dumplings are juicy and the cabbage is simply exceptionally good. The whole thing costs 12.50. A good price, especially when you consider that it is the most expensive thing on the menu. At the next table we see the Kaiserschmarrn, which makes our mouths water, but unfortunately there is no more room in our stomachs.
Conclusion
The Katrin can really be recommended to every hiker. We did our hike on the Katrin with our 1-year-old in the Kraxn (back carrier).