Urzeitweg (Primeval Trail)

One of the four circular trails of Brixen's Hiking Butterfly is the Primeval Trail. Take a journey through time to distant millions of years of the earth's history!
The Gaisberg is not only a geological peculiarity of our area, it also bestows an invaluable wealth on our community: drinking water of unrivalled purity and balanced mineral content.

Details & Facts

Departure point: train station Brixen im Thale
Duration on foot: 6 - 7 hours
Difference in altitude: 950 metres of altitude
Difficulty: moderately difficult
Trail surface: Asphalt and forest roads, hiking paths
Equipment: Hiking shoes, poles, water bottle and change of clothes

Urzeitweg

MediumLevel
6:00 hDuration
15,5 kmDistance
1765 mHighest point
985 mUphill
986 mDownhill
Details

Refreshment options

Wiegalm
Kobinger Hütte
Bärstättalm
Brixenbachalm
Gaisbergstüberl

A road leads from the district of Lauterbach into the Brixenbach valley. Just before the bridge that crosses the Brixenbach (river) a footpath branches off and leads along the western slope of the Gaisberg to the Brixenbachalm. A Way of the Cross is still preserved here, where many a pious pilgrim prays at the newly restored stations on the way to the Harlaßanger Chapel.

You will learn more about the Gaisberg in a moment but for now its greatest significance for Brixen should be mentioned - the drinking water for Brixen comes from its catchment area, a water of the highest purity and quality - due to the special geological conditions that exist here. If you take common mineral water as a standard of comparison, you are drinking a quality (with the exception of the sulphate ions) that probably not every water available for sale can boast. This is a purity that is rarely found!

Above the Brixenbachalm, the footpath leads relatively steeply up the mountain. If you want to take it easier, you can also take the forest road. The closer the path gets to the Gaisberg's limestone, the more frequent the "mountain pines" become. This type of pine is very similar in needles and cones to its tree-like relatives, but very different in growth.

Instead of a straight main trunk, many flexible branches form a thicket close to the ground, which neither avalanches nor rockfalls can harm. On this side of the mountain you will also repeatedly encounter larches, which give the mountain forest a magical play of colours in Autumn.

The Wiegalm is not only a striking scenic point, here you can also follow the traces of a "primeval drama" from your own direct observation. The short stretch of trail from the Wiegalm to the South runs exactly along a geological boundary line, which is unmistakable even among the vegetation, especially in early Summer. To the left, gentian and perennials, hairy Alpine roses and mountain avens - to the right of the path no trace of it, but here, for example, the "rust-red Alpine rose" with its dark red leaves with the rust-coloured underside.

In Spring and early Summer, you can hike from this Ice Age boulder via Almenmatten through a magnificent sea of mountain flowers down to the Kobinger Hütte where you rejoin the normal connecting trail to the Wiegalm. The Harlaßanger Chapel is the secondary / "daughter chapel" in Brixen next to the Salvenkirchlein. Alpine services are also held here. Regardless of your religious beliefs, you are invited to linger for a few contemplative minutes in this simple rural sanctuary.

In the church you will notice the many memorial photos on the walls. According to old custom, dear deceased persons are thus entrusted to the protection of the sanctuary and brought to the visitor's memory.

The path continues down the eastern slope of the Gaisberg towards the Gaisberg's lift mountain-top station.. Below the Bärstättalm you cross a trench with fossil-bearing rocks from a sea 190 million years ago. On this side of the Gaisberg, the difference to the surrounding rocks is also evident in an abundant supply of beech trees. On the valley side, the view leads back into the Spertental valley with the striking peak of the Rettenstein, and in front of you in the distance you can see the mouth of the Brixen valley opening up to the Kitzbühel region.

The Gaisberg lift can spare you the last 450 metres of descent, but you will of course also find a beautiful footpath to Kirchberg. From there you can finish your tour on the valley floor away from the traffic on comfortable hiking trails in the direction of Brixen. On the way there you will also pass the Seestüberl. In earlier times there was a lake here, but it has long since dried up and only a few boggy meadows reveal its former location. Before you reach the village centre again, the hamlet of Feuring with its sedate farmhouses and the tall "Dorflinde" (village lime tree) welcomes you.