Hiking Verwall Trail in St. Anton

Wednesday, December 25, 2024

After breakfast, we decided to head into town and try hiking the Verwall Trail around Verwall Lake (the trail starts at  Hotel Mooserkreuz). 

According to our hotel's concierge and Snow-Online:

Verwall trail is considered one of the most beautiful trail sections in Austria. This 10-kilometer intermediate route starts near Hotel Mooserkreuz and leads into the scenic Verwall Valley.

Our hotel's shuttle quickly dropped us off at the Nasserein bus stop, where we boarded the free local bus No. 3 and rode a few more stops southwards. There, we boarded a different bus, that dropped us off near Hotel Mooserkreuz. Since we forgot to bring the trail map, we stopped by Hotel Mooserkreuz for more explicit trail directions and learned that the trail started right across the street.

Upon entering the trail, we saw signs for Verwall Trail "Loipe Verwall", and a list of open cross-country trails. As we started our hike on the snow-cleared road (also frequented by buses) we saw nearby cross-country tracks (with well-defined lanes for each ski). 

We encountered many groups of people on the trail, including many cross-country skiers, hikers, and dog walkers. 

Next time, bring cross-country skis!

After a 50-minute walk, we reached the Wagner Hutte (which was quite busy) and were happy to learn that it was open on Christmas Day. We decided to stop for lunch (and to warm up), sitting down at one of the indoor tables. We ordered the following lunch items:

• Boris: Warm Gluhwein, Ghoulash (Hungarian Soup), Sparkling water
• Inna: Latte, Beef Soup with dumplings

I liked the warm Gluhwein (wine) and my Ghoulash soup with a bread roll was delicious. Inna's Beef Soup was quite good too. We heard a lot of English spoken, and many British skiers were dining there. St. Anton is extremely popular with British skiers, due to its reliable snowfall and vibrant apres-ski scene (Krazy Kangaroo and Moosewirt).

We also noticed many downhill skiers and snowboarders arriving, so this trail is linked to St. Anton am Arlberg. After reaching this area, they board buses to take them back to the resort.

We realized that we had not yet reached Verwall Lake, and we decided to continue on. We hiked further south, finding the snow-covered Verwall Lake (with small patches still unfrozen). As we continued to hike around the lake, we realized that we needed to return to Wagnet Hutte as the rest of the trail was for cross-country skiers only (not hikers).

We decided to stop again at the Wagner Hutte, to warm up, before continuing on our hike. We ordered the following items (and shared a table with another Austrian couple). The Apple Strudel was enormous (and delicious) and the hot chocolate helped! 

• Boris: Hot Chocolate, Apple Strudel
• Inna: Hot Tea

It took us 3 hours to hike the 6.5-mile loop. Many sections of the Verwall Trail were slightly uphill and covered by freshly fallen snow, making forward progress slower than expected. This trail could also be fun on cross-country skis (provided one knew how to brake in the downhill sections).

When we finished the trail, we ordered an UberX to take us back to our hotel. (We could have tried to ride the free buses back, but it would have taken a lot more time).

 

Verwall Trail Report

Highlights

• Enjoying the beautiful hike around Verwall Lake
• Dining at Wagner Hutte
  

Lowlights

• Not bringing our cross-country skis to this trail
  

Links

• St. Anton am Arlberg Ski Resort (ski resort)
• Hotel zur Pfeffermuhle (lodging, dining)
• Alber Sport (ski/snowboard rental, lockers)
• Cross-country trails in St. Anton (popular cross-country skiing trails in St. Anton)