Pfaffensee: two quiet mountain lakes on the Watles

The Large and the Small Pfaffensee, in Italian Lago del Prete, lie south-east below the Watles summit, near the tree line in high alpine heath. For the height of the lakes you find, depending on the source, 2,241 or 2,242 m. The area is a protected natural monument, and the biotope deserves consideration: stay on the path and take your litter with you.

If you walk around the Large Pfaffensee on the path along the shore, you see the water from ever new angles; the reports mention the play of colours and the reflection of the sky. Above the lake the Ötztal Alps stand in the distance. The Small Pfaffensee is worth a look too.

The route starts at the valley station in Prämajur. First you walk to the farms of Prämajur, then on trail no. 20 across the meadows and along a forest track into the larch forest. Soon trail no. 3 branches off to the Höfer Alm; from there it is only about twenty minutes to the top station and the Plantapatsch hut, at about 2,150 m next to the Spielesee. From the house allow one and a half to two hours and about 400 metres of ascent.

From the hut, trails 4 and 4A lead to the lakes in about an hour and with roughly 110 metres of ascent. In total it is 10.3 km and 545 metres of ascent there and back; the ascent is a wide track of about five kilometres. If you set off after breakfast you are up there by lunchtime and back at the house in the afternoon. The chairlift, when it runs, saves about 400 metres of ascent; watles.net shows whether it runs.

Südtirol Marketing and the Watles operator describe a circular hike that starts in Burgeis at the information office on trail no. 4: up to the Bergsee, right past the Platzeralm (not open to the public) to the Pfaffensee, then down on trails 4A and 3 to the Plantapatsch hut. It continues to the Höfer Alm and the valley station, on trail 2A to Prämajur and, via the Röfenhöfe on trail 2, to Marienberg Abbey and back to Burgeis.

Both sources give 15.8 km, about 1,033 metres of ascent and descent and about six hours, highest point 2,241 m; they rate the round as difficult. Plan a whole day. As a hotel guest you can shorten it: you join or leave at the house.

On the ascent you see Prämajur with its farms, colourful larch forests and the Höfer Alm at 2,066 m, which makes cheese and butter and whose history goes back at least to the 17th century. Above the Schlinig valley the peaks of the Sesvenna group appear, with the pale Föllakopf.

Above the tree line lies the heathland of the Watles. The operator describes the hiking area as offering panoramic views of the Ortler group, the Sesvenna group, the Ötztal Alps and the Upper Vinschgau basin. If you want to add the summit to the lakes, continue from the Plantapatsch hut on trail no. 3 to the summit cross at about 2,555 m.

The lakes lie at about 2,240 m; the trails can be walked in summer and early autumn, once the snow has gone. It is especially beautiful in October when the larches turn golden, our recommendation for the Pfaffensee lakes. In autumn it can already snow at this height in bad weather, so check the weather and trail conditions before you set off.

The hike to the lakes is doable with children and grandparents, above all if you plan the ascent to the hut as half a day. The path is wide, and the hut with the Spielesee and the playground rewards the first part. Südtirolerland rates the hike as family-friendly and medium, while the house figure calls it easy.

Dogs are possible on the trails. Animals graze on the pastures, so please keep your dog on a lead there. Dogs are welcome in the hotel after prior registration.

You can stop at the Plantapatsch hut at the top station, at the Höfer Alm and at the snack bar at the valley station; there are also inns in Prämajur and Burgeis. The Platzeralm on the Burgeis side is not run as a restaurant. Opening times change with the season, and the Höfer Alm may stay closed in some years; information is on watles.net.

The Pfaffensee lakes combine well with the Spielesee on the Watles, described on the Watles page, or with a visit to Marienberg Abbey, which lies on the round from Burgeis. Another day belongs to the Schlinig valley with the Sesvenna hut.

You walk from the house to the valley station and follow the signs for trails no. 20 and no. 3. The tour page for the Pfaffensee lakes summarises route, times and ascent and offers the track as a GPX file.

By car: By car you only drive as far as the Watles valley station in Prämajur, according to the house about 100 m from the hotel; there is a car park there. From there you continue on foot, as the lakes can only be reached on hiking trails.

By bus and train: Bus no. 277 runs from Mals to Prämajur; for the round from Burgeis, lines 273 and 274 stop there (sources: watles.net, suedtirol.info). With the Reschensee Guest Pass, trains and buses in South Tyrol are included in your stay; timetables are on suedtirolmobil.info.

On foot: Straight from the house: to the valley station, then trails no. 20 and no. 3 uphill, about 10 km there and back.

Parking: Car park at the Watles valley station in Prämajur