Zirbenweg

The Zirbenweg is a 7-kilometer ridge trail at around 2,100 meters above Innsbruck, running through the last significant stand of ancient Arolla pines (Zirbelkiefer) in Tyrol with views over the Inn valley and the Karwendel range. The Arolla pines on this trail are between 400 and 800 years old, gnarled and crooked in the way that treeline trees become when they have been shaped by centuries of wind and snow. The trail is accessible by cable car from either the Patscherkofel or Glungezer lift systems; 2.5 to 3.5 hours for the traverse. Lift tickets required at both ends, approximately EUR 20-30 depending on route. The trail is free and requires no technical walking skill. Open June to October when the lifts operate. The Patscherkofel hosted the 1964 and 1976 Winter Olympics downhill events; the mountain infrastructure from those games partly explains the lift access to a trail that would otherwise be a much longer walk.