Hike & Overnight Stay at the Innsbrucker Hütte

Because the Innsbrucker Hütte sits on a ridge between two valleys, it can be reached from two sides; from the Gschnitz Valley or from the Stubai Valley.

We chose to take the slightly longer (but less steep) route from the Stubai side. We parked the car in the village of Neder at the gravel parking lot which is just off the main road, and started the hike walking through the village. 

The approach to the Innsbrucker Hütte from here is from a side valley that splits off from the main Stubai Tal, called the Pinnis Tal (Tal is the name for valley in German). The start of the trail is a wide gravel road the winds up the valley floor alongside the river. When you get to the first of 4 mountain huts the road flattens out and you'll walk for the next few kilometres on an a pretty level gravel road, which leads deeper in to the valley through lots of alpine meadows and a few small forest areas. You'll pass four mountain huts down here on the valley floor, and at the final one, you'll see the flag of the Alpenverein up on the ridge which is your finish line. Here the road ends and you'll continue on a narrow gravel trail that starts to climb up.

The first part of this narrower trail takes you along the side of the valley in a long traverse before the final push to the top in a zig-zagging back and forth until you reach the top of the ridge and the Innsbrucker Hütte.

From the Innsbrucker Hütte there are various climbing oportunities, including via ferrata training routes and rock climbing, as well as further hiking routes. The most popular onward routes from here are further along the Stubaier Hohenweg to the Bremer Hütte or up to the Habicht summit as part of the Stubai Seven Summits tour.