Achental cycle path

From Marquartstein, you first follow the right bank of the Tiroler Ache heading south. Above on the mountainside is Marquartstein Castle – the small town was the judicial seat in the valley for centuries. The cycle path follows the Tiroler Ache for a short distance before turning into the center of Unterwössen. Worth seeing here is the parish church of St. Martin. Afterwards, the Achental cycle path circles the glider airfield south of Unterwössen, then crosses the Ache towards the village of Raiten. Between Buchberg, a ridge in the Achental, and the Mettenhamer Filze nature reserve, the path runs in the shade of large trees. The Mettenhamer Filze is an almost untouched raised bog and a natural jewel of the Achental. Meadow orchards with numerous orchid species surround the raised bog.

The Achental cycle path then runs directly along the Tiroler Ache to the district of Ettenhausen in Schleching. Majestically, the Geigelstein towers as the highest summit above the Achental in the nature reserve of the same name. In Ettenhausen, the cycle path reaches its southernmost point and then turns back north. In Schleching, the baroque village church of St. Remigius is worth a visit, followed by the route to Mühlau and Mettenham. Behind Mettenham lies the natural swimming lake Zeller See near the cycle path, which shortly after touches the village of Raiten a second time before heading north through the Lanzinger and Süßener Moos nature reserves. Several small moors are embedded in a hilly landscape shaped by a massive landslide at the end of the last Ice Age. The rock masses come from the slope above Marquartstein Castle.

After the wooded hill landscape, the route passes through Piesenhausen over meadows and fields towards Grassau. The largest town of the Achental was for centuries the spiritual center of the valley, with the impressive parish church of the Assumption of Mary serving as the mother church for numerous filial churches in the entire valley. Afterwards, the cycle path runs along the edge of the Kendlmühlfilzen nature reserve. The Kendlmühlfilzen ranks among the largest raised moors in Bavaria and has been greatly altered by extensive peat extraction. In the current nature reserve, nature is allowed to take its course again. Located at its edge is a former brine pumping station of the world's first pipeline. Back in the 17th century, it was possible to transport dissolved salt (brine) from Berchtesgaden and Reichenhall to the saltworks in the alpine foothills through wooden pipes. At the beginning of the 19th century, the line was extended to Rosenheim, and the pumping house between Grassau and Rottau was built. Today it houses an interesting museum on the technical history of the brine pipeline as well as a scientific section about life in the raised bog. A moor experience trail with a viewing platform and moor playground complements the museum ensemble.

After the small village of Rottau, the Achental cycle path runs between the Kendlmühlfilzen and Rottauer Filzen nature reserves to the peat railway station. The former loading station for industrially extracted peat now houses a museum on the industrial history of moor use in Bavaria. Then the route climbs the Westerbuchberg and continues on its northern side towards Übersee. Impressive is the parish church of St. Nicholas in the neo-Gothic style. The huge brick building is also called the cathedral of the Achental. At the district of Feldwies, you go under the motorway and shortly thereafter reach the shore of Lake Chiemsee. The Achental cycle path takes an honorary lap around the Chiemsee and turns south again for a short stretch. Past the nature pavilion of the state's bird protection association, it goes to Moosen, where the cycle path meets the Tiroler Ache again. Those who want to return to Marquartstein follow the Achendamm southwards. The normal route also continues downstream on the Achendamm.

The cycle path now leads right through the nature reserve "Mouth of the Tiroler Achen." The alpine river forms the last untouched inland delta of Central Europe at its mouth into Lake Chiemsee and is a natural jewel of the highest order. At the same time, the Chiemsee is gradually silting up. The most visible sign of this is the town of Grabenstätt, which until a few centuries ago still lay on the shore of the Chiemsee. In Grabenstätt, the path turns south again and passes the Bergener Moos nature reserve towards the town of Bergen. Several points offer a magnificent mountain panorama with the peaks of the Chiemgau Alps – Hochfelln and Hochgern on the east side of the valley, Geigelstein, Hochplatte and Kampenwand on the west side. From Bergen, the route then follows the southern edge of the Bergener Moos and Egerndacher Filze to Staudach, where the Achental cycle path meets the Tiroler Ache again and follows it upstream to the starting point Marquartstein.