About Josefsthaler Waterfalls
The Josefsthaler Waterfalls (I’ve also seen it spelled as Josefstaler Waterfalls) were on the Hachelbach consisting of an attractive main drop (probably at least 20m tall) with some surprising upstream cascades.
They were kind of obscure in that there wasn’t a whole lot of literature devoted to it when I was doing my trip planning research.
Nevertheless, I’ve seen this waterfall more commonly referred to by its German names as the Josefsthaler Wasserfall as well as the Josefsthaler Wasserfälle.
I say this waterfall was rather obscure because there was neither a dedicated car park nor a whole lot of literature about it on the interwebs.
In any case, I found an opportunity to visit this waterfall when we were leaving the Garmisch-Partenkirchen area and heading towards Munich.
Given the lousy weather when I made my visit, it turned out to be a good waterfall to visit on a day dominated by driving long distances.
As far as experiencing this waterfall, I actually managed to take a longer and more roundabout rundweg (loop path) that made this excursion longer than it should have been.
However, that was how I wound up finding out about the upper waterfalls, and why I refer to these waterfalls in its plural form.
Indeed, had I gone in the correct direction, this excursion would have only taken me around 30-45 minutes tops.
Instead, the rundweg that I took wound up being about 100 minutes to complete.
Personally, I’d recommend sticking with the direct route, but continuing further upstream to the upper cascades before turning back.
I didn’t think there was that much to see on the rundweg unless the goal was to spend a bit more time in quiet solitude.
So given that, I’ll just focus this writeup on the most direct path first, then I’ll gloss over the rundweg later.
Josefstaler Waterfalls Trail Description – the direct out-and-back route
After finding street parking on the Josefstalerstrasse or the Aurachstrasse (see directions below), I would then walk south along the Josefstalerstrasse as it started to parallel the Hachelbach.
A short distance after the bridge over the creek, I then kept right to remain on the Josefstalerstrasse.
Eventually, the road ended and the trail continued on with signage suggesting the falls was only 10 minutes from here.
The path quickly skirted by someone’s property before entering a forested area flanking the Hachelbach.
Within minutes, the trail headed right up to the main drop of the Josefsthaler Waterfalls with its pleasant segmented characteristic.
In order to get all the way up to the base of the waterfall, I would have to leave the trail and get my feet wet.
So I was merely content to get my views and carry on.
Next, the trail climbed steeply as it eventually skirted by partial views of the main drop at the top, then continued further upstream.
After nearly another 400m, the trail started to skirt by some attractive upper cascades.
The terrain here was a bit rockier and more slippery in order to try to get a closer look.
In any case, after experiencing these cascades, I’d suggest that this would be the turnaround point.
Distance-wise, the direct trail would have been merely about 2km round trip (depending on where you park).
Josefstaler Waterfalls Trail Description – the rundweg (loop trail)
The rundweg that I took began on the small street called Buchenweg, which was actually further away from the other trailhead mentioned above.
This side street eventually continued as an unpaved road, where I then followed the signs pointing to the Josefsthaler Waterfalls.
After passing by a wooded area with some logging remnants, the trail eventually descended towards the top of the upper cascades of the Josefsthaler Waterfalls.
The trail continued to descend alongside the cascades and ultimately towards another descent downstream of the base of the main waterfall.
From there, the trail picked up as described in the out-and-back route.
This entire loop wound up being roughly 4km in total length taking about an hour.
Authorities
The Josefsthaler Waterfalls reside near Schliersee in the state of Bavaria (Bayern), Germany. It may be administered by the Schliersee government. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, you can try visiting their website.
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