Schluderns Waalwege Loop Trail

The meltwater from the Ötztal glaciers is fed to agriculture in Vinschgau via the irrigation channels

The train station in Schluderns is ideal for parking. In the direction of the castle and through the apple orchards we reach the beginning of the Waalweg after a steep climb. We always follow number 20 or 17. We follow various Waalwege and the Sonnensteig via the old St. Martin chapel to the Mals castle courtyard. There you can take a break on a bench with a table and a beautiful view. Strengthened, it goes downhill again over the 20. The path is a forest management path and should be walked accordingly. Later the path becomes 17 and we walk downhill again on Waalwegen. The water flows quietly or bubbling and accompanies us along the way. After about 8 km we leave the Waalweg to the left and it goes quite steeply downhill again to Schluderns. There we reach the Etsch again, which we then follow. At the hotel “Zum weissen Rössl” we walk left again to the castle. Below the castle is the Burgschänke, which we found on the climb. There you can end your hike in a comfortable way and with “Olli” the tour will get a personal touch. From there it is about 1.5 km to the train station. A gourmet tour with small sections as a compulsory exercise. Have fun.

At the ruins you can also follow the hiking markers towards the church and walk downhill from there.

A beautiful and interesting tour with two strenuous climbs on easy paths. You can experience the work that was necessary to build these waterways. But you can also learn what can be achieved with hydropower.

Since the weather was cloudy today, we decided against a mountain tour and instead hiked a loop over the Waalweg. The tour was a proposal from Komoot; we only had to change it a little on the way, as the path at the Griggwaal is currently closed due to the risk of falling rocks. All in all, a really recommendable, easy and interesting hike at the entrance to the Matschertal. Leads comfortably along Leitenwaal and Berkwaal and past the archaeological excavation site Ganglegg (ruins of the Iron, Bronze and Roman times; free of charge). The ascent from the gorge to the Obermatsch castle ruins (12th century) is about halfway up the path and is quite steep, but it's worth it. The old walls invite you to take a break and you have a great view (if the weather cooperates). The way back to Schluderns then leads past the Churburg, which can be visited with a guide. Start and end point: P&R Bahnhof Schluderns.

With 37 degrees Celsius forecast for today, I had to come up with something as a route planner. Either go up high or do something with water. I opted for the latter, which in South Tyrol usually means irrigation canals. So I took the train to Laas again and then continued on by bus 🚌 as a rail replacement service to Schluderns. I had read that there is a very beautiful irrigation canal there, looked after by a woman 🚺 called the irrigation canal attendant. The Berkwaal is still in operation today for about 3 kilometers and is used to feed water into the irrigation system. My high expectations were truly fulfilled. Lots of water, interesting structures, and very diverse. The whole thing was wonderfully shady. Admittedly, there were a few more people here than usual, but that didn't bother us. Having reached the beginning of the irrigation canal, we could have gone straight back along the Leitenwaal, but we gained another 250 meters of elevation and walked to the Matsch castle ruins. There are three generations of structures 🏰. Ancient, very old and very old. We were able to use a fairly good track through the forest to return to the Berkwaal. From there, Komoot played a trick on us. It didn't record a single meter of the route. Hence the straight line on the map. By the time I realized it, we had almost reached Schluderns. No trick helped to record it correctly. Only a phone restart worked. The main thing is that the photos of the smaller Leitenwaal are recorded and the memories aren't lost. Once we reached Schluderns, we took a small, unplanned detour to the castle tavern. We had already passed by there in the morning and found it quite interesting. It's worth stopping by on our last day in South Tyrol, I thought. The wine 🍷 and the Kaiserschmarrn (sweet pancakes) tasted good, and we concluded our hike here with great weather, lovely hosts, and above all: the best relaxation!!!!!!

Beautiful tour, with a fairly steep climb at the beginning. The route to the Matsch castle ruins is more interesting the other way round. It goes up narrow paths and then down a wide path.