Arrival by public transport
Direct bus connection from the main train station Innsbruck to the valley station Serlesbahnen in Mieders.
Something like the owl meadows - or rather larch meadows? - can't be found anywhere else in Tyrol. In the fall, the forests at the foot of the Serles are transformed into a golden sea of larches.
Until the beginning of November, you can cover most of the vertical meters to the Eulenwiesen with the cable car in Mieders. After the end of the season, you can start the tour either in the village of Mieders or at the Gleinserhof. Most of the time you are on forest paths or easy forest trails. After the detour to the owl meadows, you can stop off at the Gleinserhof. You should plan plenty of time to look around - the view of the Serles through the larch trees is something very special, especially in late autumn.
They provide shade and though allow sufficient sunlight to pass through for the understory to grow. The larch trees on the “Eulenwiesen” enable a protected variety of flowers (pasqueflower, trumpet gentian, arnica …) and give space to matgrass and dwarf-shrub. These “Larchbergmahder” sprouted after fire clearance. Due to the many floods at the valley bottom the farmers needed new pastures and found them at about 1,700 meters above sea level. Whereas spruce trees and pine trees burned up, the larch trees only flared on the outside and were budding again the next spring. Such places of natural treasures can only be maintained through extensive care and cultivation by the farmers. Once a year the “Eulenwiesen” are therefore mowed by hand and scythed.
The Serlesbahnen can be found at the valley entrance in the Mieder district. There you will find many free parking spaces.
Leaving the Serlesbahnen mountain station, walk past the Koppeneck panoramic restaurant along the forest path in the direction of the Eulenwiesen (signposted). After a brief walk you reach the Ochsenhütte mountain hut. From there, follow the forest path further in the direction of the Eulenwiesen and in approx. 45 minutes, you reach a fork at which you turn right in the direction of Gleinser Mähder (see signposting). Continue down a relatively flat forest path for a further 20 minutes along the Gleinser Mähder. Turn left at the sign (Eulenwiesen) and after a short, steep ascent, you reach the Eulenwiesen. On the mountain ridge, you walk through meadows surrounded by larch woods. At the end of the Eulenwiesen you reach a forest path which takes you to the Gleinserhof. From there, the trail leads downwards back towards the Serlesbahnen valley station. The entire circular route takes approx. 3½ hours.
Direct bus connection from the main train station Innsbruck to the valley station Serlesbahnen in Mieders.
At the valley station are many free parking spaces.
