Kühtai, a mountain resort about an hour's bus ride from Innsbruck, is best known as a ski destination — but in summer the valley flips character completely. One writer for A Luxury Travel Blog recently returned 18 months after snowshoeing the same area (when avalanche risk kept them off the open slopes) and found a green, walkable landscape they could finally explore freely.
The Three Lakes Circuit is exactly what it sounds like: a clearly signed loop taking in three high alpine lakes, climbed in ascending order. Yellow signposts at the roadside point the way from Kühtai, and red-and-white blazes mark the trail throughout. The first stop is the Hirschebensee at 2,164 metres — the 'lake of the deer plain', named for the red deer that once roamed here — followed by the Unterer Plenderlessee at 2,311 metres and, highest of all, the Oberer Plenderlessee at 2,344 metres.
The payoff for the roughly 300 metres of climbing is a proper mountain lodge: the Drei-Seen-Hütte sits beside the upper lake, complete with a kids' play area and, apparently, a toilet with a view. After refreshments there's one short rocky crest to clear before the descent, which is slightly technical underfoot in places but manageable with a bit of care. The route finishes with a pedestrian tunnel whose archway frames the peaks you've just walked through.
Guidebooks allow three to three and a half hours for the full loop; the blogger's moving time was under two and a half hours, with GPS logging about 7 kilometres. Add a leisurely stop at the hut and you're looking at a comfortable half-day outing. The natural finish is lunch on the terrace at the Kühtaier Dorfstadl in the village — poke bowls and apple strudel were the order of the day — before catching the afternoon bus back to Innsbruck.
Why it matters: this is a genuinely accessible high-alpine hike, reachable by public transport from a major city, doable in a morning or afternoon, and suitable for families (that play area helps). Temperatures at the trailhead were a cool 12–15°C, warming quickly once walking began, so layers and a waterproof are sensible even on a forecast-friendly day. If you know Kühtai only from winter trips, summer reveals a completely different valley — and if you've never been, this circuit is about as friendly an introduction to Tyrolean hiking as you'll find.
