Gößgraben - Gießener Hütte

Access to starting point:
From the Karawanks Tunnel, we follow the highway towards Salzburg to exit Gmünd. Further, we then follow the signs for valley Maltatal. The road, that runs through the mentioned valley we follow to the settlement Koschach. When on the right we notice the waterfall Fallbach (highest waterfall in Koroška) we will soon come to a crossroad where we go left over a bridge, which crosses a river Malta. Only a little after this we again turn left on a narrower road steep upwards into a valley Gossgraben (signs for mountain hut Gießener Hütte). We follow the road all the way to a large parking lot below dam Goskarspeicher. The last few kilometers of the road are opened only in the summer months when the mountain hut Gießener Hütte is open (from the beginning of July to the end of September).

Path description:
From the parking lot, we continue on the asphalt road which is closed for traffic. After few minutes of the ascent, we come to a crossroad where we continue right on a macadam road where a sign with the caption »Gießener Hütte« points us to. Left is only a short ascent to the lake Gößkarspeicher.
At the crossing, we also enter into national park High Tauern (Nationalpark Hohe Tauern). The road is all the time ascending and increasingly beautiful views start to open up towards the mountain group Reißeck. At the ascent we also few times cross a grazing fence, because by the road in the summer months also livestock is grazing. Further, we can all the time walk on the road or we go on marked shortcuts. Forest is becoming thinner and in the last part of the path towards the mountain hut, we walk by rocky terrain. Here also a nice view opens up towards the summit Hochalmspitze and on numerous streams, which run down the slope. We still continue on the road and we soon come to the hut Gießener Hütte.

Trip can be extended to: Hochalmspitze