You really should come to Kaltern in autumn. When the air tastes of freshly harvested grapes. Or at the beginning of October, when the Törggelen season begins and the first young wine is served in the wine cellars together with Schlutzkrapfen, ham and other South Tyrolean specialities.
But what season is often misjudged: spring! It's not for nothing that the vines feel so at home on Kaltern's mountain slopes. Sub-Mediterranean currents ensure a sea of flowers and T-shirt temperatures in the valley from as early as March. The last glacial period is partly responsible for this special climate, which has given this region a very special flavour.
On its way south, the ice formed a kind of mid-sun balcony between the 2116 metre high mountain face on one side and the 400 metre lower Adige Valley on the other. Today's Lake Kaltern was formed from the chunks of ice that were once left behind and the lateral moraines are suitable for mountain biking early in the year.
The climbs are moderate and lead to high-altitude trails with plenty of panoramic views. The trails: natural flow on gentle forest soil. Perfect for a fresh start to the touring season after a long winter break. That's why we have also developed our EMTB touring camp in the spring of Kaltern. Of course, the tours are even more fun on brand new bikes!
The top 3 spring tours around Lake Kaltern
When you arrive in Kaltern, the 35 kilometre long mountain wall immediately catches your eye. On its flank, high above the vineyards, there is a fun forest path to pedal along in the direction of Buchwald, which repeatedly leads to beautiful vantage points. This opens up bird's eye views of the Überetsch region and the South Tyrolean capital of Bolzano.
Tour 1: Eppan High Trail
- Length: 34.7 kilometres
- Uphill: 1154 metres in altitude
- Trail share: 29 per cent
- Difficulty: easy-medium
The panoramic tour in the north of Kaltern, which provides an overview of the city of Bolzano, the landscape and the glacial history of the valley: from the shores of Lake Kaltern, the first 840 metres of altitude climb through the vineyards to Kaltern and further north.
From the Kalterer Höhe, the tour switches to the forest floor of a high-level trail and now swings along it for almost ten kilometres to the Furklauer Schlucht gorge and over the 1000-metre mark up to Buchwald.
From here, it's back down into the valley on a forest path and with a detour via the Eppan ice holes, past castles and palaces back to Kaltern. The detour via Montiggl costs an extra 200 metres in altitude, but is rewarded with a final trail!
Tour 2: Montiggler Trails
- Length: 20.8 kilometres
- Uphill: 584 metres in altitude
- Trail share: 38 per cent
- Difficulty: easy-medium
A short loop with a manageable elevation gain, but an exceptionally high density of trails and highlights: From the eastern shore of Lake Kaltern, you turn off into the Spring Valley and let the mild air flow guide you to the trail network entrance in the Montiggl forest.
This is followed by six kilometres of crackling pine needle paths around the pretty Montiggl lakes with a café bar. The climbs back to the Leuchtenburg ruins and to the Rosszähnen are a bit of a challenge, but the view from up there is simply not to be missed!
Mitterberg - the hotspot with flow trails
A rather inconspicuous, long forest ridge stretches between Kaltern and the Etschtal valley: the Mitterberg. It is just 661 metres high, but its dense, green fur is full of surprises.
Especially for mountain bikers, as its idyllic longitudinal valleys provide almost asphalt-free access from Lake Kaltern to the Monticolo forest, where an extensive network of natural flow trails awaits.
These paths also take you around the two Montiggl lakes, which are hidden here like gemstones set into the mountain. Panoramic views can be found in the far south, where the forest hump tapers and forms a rocky spine in the centre: the Rosszähne.
You should be free from giddiness, because sitting on this rocky ridge, your legs are already dangling into the abruptly sloping Adige Valley 400 metres below.
Tour 3: Cisloner Alm
- Length 53.8 kilometres
- Uphill: 1492 metres in altitude
- Trail share: 7 per cent
- Difficulty: medium
If you start at Lake Kaltern in the morning, you can glide along the Adige Valley cycle path to the Trudner Horn with a thermal tailwind - and back again in the afternoon. The ascent of the tour finally begins at the Castelfeder biotope and stretches for 21 kilometres, like a garland around the belly of the mountain.
With a gradient of six per cent for a long time, you easily roll up the 1063 metres in altitude and experience villages, tunnels, forests and tracks. After a rest at the Cisloner Alm, you return to Truden with a few trail detours and then a very varied route around the southern flank of the mountain back to the Etschtal valley.
Trudner Horn - South Tyrol's nature park
Even the 1781 metre high Trudner Horn, which towers south-east of Kaltern on the other side of the Etschtal valley, does not reveal its special features from a distance. The solitary boulder consists of dolomite rock on one side and red-brown quartz porphyry on the other.
Rough alpine winds sweep across its north-eastern flanks, while a sub-Mediterranean climate blows in the south-west. Contrasts that allow extreme biodiversity to flourish on this mountain. This is why the Trudner Horn is one of the most important nature parks in South Tyrol.
As a mountain biker, you can experience almost all faces of this geological wonder, as you simply follow the route of the former Val di Fiemme railway, which is signposted for cyclists, and cycle around the Trudner Horn until you reach the sun terrace of the Cisloner Alm (1249 m). After this idyllic stop, you could rock the 1er trail into the Etschtal valley or take the bypass recommended in the tour.
Information and important events in Kaltern
EMTB Trail Camp
Experience the trail tours of Kaltern together, learn riding technique tricks from professionals - and all this on the latest e-MTBs from Radon and several other bike manufacturers: The EMTB Trail Camp at Lake Kaltern will take place again in April.
For four days, the tour groups set off in the morning from the eastern shore of Lake Kaltern on rides of varying difficulty. Wherever there are key sections, they will hone their riding technique, and where there are inns with particularly good cuisine, they will of course stop for a bite to eat.
The absolute highlight will once again be a stop at one of Kaltern's wineries, where the fine wines can be savoured at length. Back at the camp at Gasthof Klughammer, repair workshops are on the agenda while dinner is already smelling of the barbecue.
- Date: 15-18 April
- Price: 599 Euro
- EMTB Trailcamp
Food and drink
"Kaltern all in red" - or also in white. Depending on which type of wine is being celebrated. Throughout the year, the people of Kaltern organise events to celebrate their export hits. The festival season starts again at the end of April with a wine hiking day and ends with the big "Wine Culinary" on 3 October. A date that can be perfectly combined with a Törggelen tour weekend. All event information: kaltern.com
Tip: Rastenbach Gorge
A short adventure circuit that makes no sense on a bike, but all the more sense on foot: 302 steps and various wooden walkways lead into the Rastenbachklamm gorge near Altenburg, south of Kaltern. Past an old mine, a thundering waterfall and crystal-clear pools. At the end, a platform offers a magnificent view over the valley basin carved out by the glacier (2.5 km/248 metres altitude). A nice alternative programme if you want to leave your bike in the garage.
The GPX data for the 3 Kaltern classic tours
As a subscriber to BIKE magazine (print or digital), you can download the GPX data free of charge at bike-magazin.de under "My area".
Subscribers to the BIKE Touring Portal automatically receive the GPX data for the three tours via their app or can download them here, including navigation tools:
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Gitta Beimfohr
Editor
