Kammerlinghorn Loop from Hintersee

Kammerlinghorn Loop from Hintersee is a 20.8 km (12.9 mi) circuit from the Klausbachtal parking area to the 2,484 m summit and back. It gains 1,542 m; the standard time is about 10 hours of walking, before longer stops. The lower approach to Bindalm is included, so the summit is not close to the car park. The high section climbs by Mittereisalm and returns down the Kammerlingalm side. Plan this as a demanding, all-day mountain hike for someone comfortable with steep terrain; it is not a short valley walk.

The summit climb begins at Bindalm, but the Hintersee version adds the long walk up Klausbachtal before the steep climbing starts. The ALMErlebnisBus can take you from Hintersee to Bindalm and cut out that approach. If you use it, check whether service runs on your date and plan the return; starting at Bindalm makes a different, shorter outing from the 20.8 km circuit described here.

At Bindalm, a broad trail rises steeply to Mittereisalm at 1,325 m. The gradient eases across a level alpine meadow. Continue southeast, cross the open pasture, and use the stile over the fence at the far end.

Past the stile, a steep trail climbs in many switchbacks through open larch forest toward Kleineistal. At a large boulder, turn right into a grassy gully and follow it to the broad ridge below Karlboden, where the Kammerlingalm path joins. That boulder is the key route-finding point; the planned ascent follows the gully, not the joining path.

Continue through mountain-pine scrub to the saddle below Karlkogel, also called Karlkopf. Beyond the summit ridge, a steep section gains the broad ridge to Kammerlinghorn at 2,484 m. The summit sits on the rim of the Hocheis basin, ringed by Hochkammerlinghorn, Hocheisspitze, Hinterberghorn and Hocheishörnl. Kammerlinghorn is the only summit in the Hocheis area reached by a marked hiking route, and the payoff is a wide view across this high alpine basin.

The mapped route descends on the Kammerlingalm side, then returns through the valley to Hintersee. That steep descent becomes very slippery in wet conditions. If the ground is wet, return by the Mittereisalm route you climbed instead. This makes the high section an out-and-back rather than the mapped loop, so expect the route and distance to differ.

Carry food and water for the high section instead of counting on a hut being open; there are no dependable refreshments between Bindalm and Kammerlingalm. Start at the paid car park beside the National Park House (Klausbachhaus) in Klausbachtal, by Hintersee. Dogs may come on the route but must stay on leash in Berchtesgaden National Park, and walkers should remain on marked trails.