By Vicky · Published Sep. 12th, 2025
When you buy through links highlighted with an asterisk (*) on this site, we may earn a small affiliate commission at no cost to you.
The Glacier Nature Trail Hike is a fairly easy yet stunning walk at the end of Martelltal, with amazing landscape, fantastic views and mountain huts.
Glacier Nature Trail Hiking Map
Location
The Glacier Nature Trail Hike starts from a large car park at the top of Martell Valley. It costs €7 per day, and although large, it can fill up quickly on sunny summer days, so arrive early. Alternatively, you can catch a bus from the main Vinschgau/Venosta Valley, changing in Ganda, a village halfway up the side valley. It takes about 50 minutes from the main valley on the bus, or 30 minutes by car.
Tips
- Stelvio National Park is called Nationalpark Stilfserjoch in German, and often you’ll see this on the signs as the region is partly German-speaking.
- Instead of driving here for one day, why not stay overnight in Martelltal*? You can then easily also walk around Zufrittsee Lake, or walk up an easy peak nearby.
- There are several huts on this hike, the Zufallhütte (Rifugio Nino Corsi) and the Marteller Hütte. The Zufallhütte has a slightly longer opening season than the Marteller Hütte, though both are open from mid-June to mid-October.
- For more walks and hikes, check out our Italy Hiking Page.
Glacier Nature Trail Hiking Route
From the car park, head up the road, then take a right along the track just before the forest. This leads you upwards through the trees and over a stream with a waterfall further up the cliffs.
You then reach a large, grassy open area. The track continues, then bends round and upwards beneath the Zufallhütte. Shortly before reaching the hut, take the path to the left to the suspension bridge. This is a fun bridge at the top of the Plimaschlucht / Plima Gorge, and you can look down at the raging river below.
Return from the bridge, then take the path leading directly to the smaller building before the main hut. This is now the Museo Badhaus, or Bathhouse Museum. It’s a restored hut that’s free to enter and has small exhibits on different topics, with English signs. This ‘Bathhouse’ was actually a delousing station for Austro-Hungarian troops stationed here during the First World War, and many of the exhibits are about this.
When you’ve had a look around, continue to the hut itself. They have delicious apple strudel and a small playground for kids. From the hut, leave towards the chapel, but head on the path to the left, straight across the grass towards a steeper section. The path turns right and heads upwards before bending left again and up to an alpine plateau.
Continue onwards and you’ll soon reach the old dam wall, built at the end of the 19th century to protect against floods. There’s a path along by the dam; follow it to its end and then head straight onwards towards the waterfall. At the path junction, take the right up the rocky hillside. It’s steep, but there’s no technical difficulty.
Glacial Landscapes and Marteller Hut
After the climb, you’ll come out on a flat section, with a very interesting landscape, sculpted by glaciers. The path heads onwards and reaches a glacier viewpoint. The glacier is still quite far away, and probably getting further away every year due to climate change…
Keep walking, heading over the rocks and slightly moon-like landscape, and around a rocky section. The path then descends towards Marteller Hut. Soon you’ll be there, and it’s a wonderful place to grab a drink or something to eat when it’s open. If it’s closed, you can still sit on the benches and enjoy a packed lunch or snack.
The view from the hut is really great, and you can see the pointy top of Königspitze, or Gran Zebrù (3851 m high). These are the names in German and Italian of the second-tallest peak in the Ortler Alps. When you’re ready, continue on the path that descends steeply from the hut back into the valley below. There are some really beautiful views up the valley, and in no time, you’ll be back on the valley floor.
Plimaschlucht
Keep right, and you’ll cross your route from earlier at the far end of the old dam wall. This time, head down along the trail that leads towards the river. The path bends right, through some sparse trees, and then bends left again towards the river’s edge.
The river here is in a narrow gorge called Plimaschlucht. There are several manmade features/viewpoints of the gorge on the way down, but they are a bit of a gimmick and don’t really lead to better views. They involve short detours, or sometimes out-and-backs, but you may as well visit them anyway, as they are very close to the main route.
Soon you’ll be in a field near the bottom with a large red, dilapidated building on the other side. This is a former hotel, but it currently has no owner. Rather than approach the hotel, turn left to reach a small pond. You’ll then hit a track. Turn left again, across a river, and up the slope to a paved road. Turn right here and you’ll soon be back at the car park and the end of the Glacier Nature Trail Hike.
For more walks and hikes, see our Italy Hiking Page.
Pin it
Related Posts
