Hiking on the Merano High Altitude Trail: from Katharinaberg to Unterstell

Helpful facts

Katharinaberg (1,245m) - Unterperfl - Wand (1,453m) - Kopfron (1,436m) - Wald (1,505m) - Innerunterstell - Patleid (1,386m) - Unterstell (1,282m) - Naturns (526m).

Special features: The small mountain village of Katharinaberg is idyllically situated on a high rock. The Schnalsburg, which gave the valley its name, once stood on the spot where the parish church is now located.

Immediately after Inner-Unterstell, there is a deep view of Juval Castle, which is enthroned on a rock at the entrance to the Schnals Valley. The castle was acquired and restored by Reinhold Messner.

At every turn, we gain insights into the world of the mountain farmers who have created and maintained this cultural landscape over centuries of work. The mountain farms blend picturesquely into the natural landscape. The view of the Schnals Valley, the villages in the lower Vinschgau Valley and the neighbouring mountain range is also impressive.

Route: We start our tour with the public bus from Naturno or directly from the valley station of the Unterstell cable car in Kompatsch (there is also parking here) to Katharinaberg in the Schnalstal valley. From the bus stop in Katharinaberg (1,245 m) we walk uphill on the asphalt road until, after a bend, the meadow path branches off to the right, which leads up to the Meraner Höhenweg crossing, which we follow. Soon we reach the Unterperfl farm, from which we descend via a short flight of stone steps and cross a mountain stream. After an ascent, we continue hiking along the slopes to the farms Wand and Kopfron. Shortly after the Kopfron farm, the trail leads left up the slope to the Wald farm inn with its striking chapel (1,505 m). There we take a short break. Our hike continues to the farmstead Inner-Unterstell. We continue to follow the Meraner Höhenweg and thus reach the Patleidhof farm (1,386 m) and further down the Unterstellhof farm (1,282 m). We take the cable car back down into the valley to reach our starting point.

The hike is easy, even if it requires some surefootedness in some places.

HM: 420

Pure walking time: 3 h

Meeting point: at 9.35am in the hotel lobby

Registration at the reception until 9.45pm

Costs: Bus and cable car