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ROUTE MAP

Steepest Gradient (%)
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Kehlsteinhaus (Eagle’s Nest)
This is a bucket list historical once-in-a-lifetime-type climb. However, please note (those signs are posted in too many places to competently or credibly ignore if you get pulled over. Thus, we cannot recommend you do this climb...but...if you decide to give it a go...here’s how we did it (but you shouldn’t...).
Berchtesgaden, Bavaria, Germany (you’ll want to stay here).
Footpath Route
The main road route
Tunnels along the main road
There it is - the Eagles Nest - as reconstructed after the allies and germans destroyed it in 1945
Wikipedia notes:
“The Kehlsteinhaus (known as the Eagle's Nest in English-speaking countries) is a Third Reich-era building erected atop the summit of the Kehlstein, a rocky outcrop that rises above the Obersalzberg near the town of Berchtesgaden. It was used exclusively by members of the Nazi Party for government and social meetings. It was visited on 14 documented instances by Adolf Hitler, who disliked the location due to his fear of heights, the risk of bad weather, and the thin mountain air. Today it is open seasonally as a restaurant, beer garden, and tourist site.
The Kehlsteinhaus sits on a ridge atop the Kehlstein, a 1,834 m (6,017 ft) subpeak of the Hoher Göll that rises above the town of Berchtesgaden. It was commissioned by Martin Bormann in the summer of 1937. Paid for by the Nazi Party, it was completed in 13 months. Hitler first visited on September 16, 1938, and returned on April 20, 1939, for its formal presentation as a gift for his fiftieth birthday. A 4 m (13 ft) wide approach road climbs 800 m (2,600 ft) over 6.5 km (4.0 mi). Costing RM 30 million to build (about 150 million inflation-adjusted euros in 2007), it includes five tunnels but only one hairpin turn.” Wikipedia
The views from start to finish are spectacular.
We suggest cycling one day just to the visitor center/bus staging area which is about three kilometers into the climb. That will permit you to get some nice photos during the day and get a sense of the first part of the climb. There is a nice restaurant at the three kilometer mark.
Very steep on the ride up to the bus staging area.
Buy tickets and load bus at km 3.
Veer left at km 3.
Ooop, going so damn fast didn’t see that sign . . .
From km 3.7 to top.
There are several spots along the way where the Eagles Nest can be seen from (far) below.
Eagles Nest with four kilometers left to climb (yes -- a severe lies gradient ahead).
We are on a mostly paved footpath for the second half of the climb.
Start early -- you won’t regret it -- experience the sunrise (and stay out of jail).
Tunnel to elevator to the top.
However, we take the footpath to the top which is just down the mountain 50 meters from the upper parking lot. The path is mostly gravel and with thirteen very tight hairpins. The final 900 meters is at a mild 7% grade, but dealing with the gravel and super tight turns is quite the challenge, and there is an 18% 120 meter section just before the top to contend with.
Footpath just below upper parking lot.
No one will be riding up the last 30 meters!
There is a footpath from the Eagles Nest to many lookouts and a cross.
One of many extraordinary views on a clear day from the top.
An accomplished and entertaining accordion player performing at the cross.
PJAMM at the high point.
Steepest Gradients by Distance
Here is an excellent summary from Jerry’s Tours of his bootleg journey to the Eagle’s Nest.
Our friend Patrick Morris of Veloasia.com and Indo China Travel writes:
Attached is the GPX from the Eagles’ Nest Strava ride:
https://www.strava.com/activities/2598635779
As you can see, a lot of zig-zagging around the “Dokumentation” bus terminal trying to figure out the way up midday. I found the the Rosenfeld Panoramic highway, dirt road, and hiking path have no signs about bikes and assume it’s perfectly fine.
The important thing about Kehlsteinhaus, which you do mention, is that once you reach the top, you are not at the top – just the bus area, and that narrow footpath is another 20 minutes up. There’s a no biking sign, and I thought there would be staff to turn you away as well, but were not. It is ridable though, until the two brief sections of stairs, not much harder than the hiking trail up, but only about 3 feet wide of course. If it’s a busy period, then it would be a big hassle, but when I walked down on my 2nd visit it was mostly empty – in the mid-afternoon.
We have confirmed with several Strava members who have ridden this climb (our posted route) that it can be done on a road bike. Below are some of their responses:
[1] We receive no benefit from posting this name; we stayed there and it was a nice place but there are likely many options in Berchtesgaden that are just as good.
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