Höfe Trail

The Gail and Lesach valleys are well off the beaten track compared to Innsbruck, Kitzbühel, and other touristic regions in the Austrian Alps, but the unspoiled scenery is just as impressive. Mountain farming has been a way of life here for centuries, and Osttirol Tourismus’ June unveiling of the 31.4-mile, farm-to-farm Höfe Trail makes traditional alpine villages and private homesteads accessible to the whole family. Five-year-olds and sprightly grandparents alike can pick up legs ranging from five to seven miles, averaging 2.15 to 4.5 walking hours per day, on a path that stretches from Silian in Gailtal to Liesing in Lesachtal. “The Höfe Trail is Austria’s first long-distance hiking trail for families who want to actively participate in the life of mountain farmers,” says Hansjörg Schneider, head of the regional tourist office in Obertilliach. “In doing so, they enable the farmers to earn extra income from tourism.” Each day, hikers prebook a different experience at one of five participating farms: at the Oswalderhof in historic Obertilliach, for example, children help the farmer with the kasn, or production of soft cheese; the cows are milked right there on the pasture and the milk processed straight away. At Untererschbaumer Hof near Untertilliach, families learn the traditional recipe for farmhouse bread, which they bake in a wood-fired oven. Another highlight is an evening tour through Obertilliach, where Josef Lugger, Austria’s only active night watchmen, regales visitors with exciting stories from the Middle Ages, when there was still danger from robbers and arsonists. The Höfe trail, which gains 6,170 feet in elevation from beginning to end, can be hiked in five consecutive days with a return by bus, and trekkers have the option to stay overnight in the guest rooms of select farms and bed & breakfasts along the way.

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