The Erlspitze Group (german: Erlspitzgruppe), also called the

Seefeld Seefeld may refer to: Places * Seefeld in Tirol, a tourist resort in Tyrol, Austria * Seefeld, Bavaria, a town in Starnberg, Bavaria, Germany ** Seefeld Castle * Seefeld, Schleswig-Holstein, a municipality in Rendsburg-Eckernförde, Schleswig-Ho ...

Group, is the southwesternmost side range of the

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n part of the

Karwendel The Karwendel is the largest mountain range of the Northern Limestone Alps. The major part belongs to the Austrian federal state of Tyrol, while the adjacent area in the north is part of Bavaria, Germany. Four chains stretch from west to east; i ...

mountains in the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Swi ...

. It forms a horseshoe-shaped highland around the valley of Eppzirler Tal and is joined in the south to the

Nordkette The Nordkette, also variously called the North Chain, Northern Range, rarely the Inn Valley Range or Inn Valley Chain (''Inntalkette''), is a range of mountains just north of the city of Innsbruck in Austria. It is the southernmost of the four g ...

by the Erl Saddle (''Erlsattel'') near Solsteinhaus. It is bounded in the west by the

Basin, in the east by the valleys of the Gleirschtal and the Großes Kristental; its forested northern foothills reach as far as

Scharnitz Scharnitz is a municipality in the district of Innsbruck-Land in the Austrian state of Tyrol located north of Innsbruck and from Seefeld in Tirol on the German border. It is one of the largest municipalities and has 10 parts: Au, Eisack, Gieße ...

. Unlike the four main ranges of the Karwendel, the Erlspitze Group is made of

Main Dolomite Main Dolomite (german: Hauptdolomit, hu, Fődolomit, it, Dolomia Principale) is a lithostratigraphic unit in the Alps of Europe. Formation was defined by K.W. Gümbel in 1857. Middle to Late Triassic sedimentary record in the Alpine realm is ...

. Typical of this rock are bizarre weathering forms, like

towers A tower is a tall structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting structures. Towers are specific ...

pinnacles A pinnacle is an architectural element originally forming the cap or crown of a buttress or small turret, but afterwards used on parapets at the corners of towers and in many other situations. The pinnacle looks like a small spire. It was main ...

and sharply formed

arête An arête ( ) is a narrow ridge of rock which separates two valleys. It is typically formed when two glaciers erode parallel U-shaped valleys. Arêtes can also form when two glacial cirques erode headwards towards one another, although frequ ...

s as well as rock arches and

cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

s as a consequence of the rapid erosion of individual rock strata. Its valley bases are Hochzirl, Reith,

and

, all of which are on the Innsbruck-

Mittenwald Mittenwald is a German municipality in the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in Bavaria. Geography Mittenwald is located approximately 16 kilometres to the south-east of Garmisch-Partenkirchen. It is situated in the Valley of the River Isar, ...

section of the

Mittenwald Railway The Mittenwald Railway (german: Mittenwaldbahn), popularly known as the Karwendelbahn (Karwendel railway), is a railway line in the Alps in Austria and Germany. It connects Innsbruck via Seefeld (both in Tyrol, Austria) and Mittenwald to Garmi ...

. Two

alpine club hut Alpine club huts (german: Alpenvereinshütten) or simply club huts (''Clubhütten'') form the majority of the over 1,300 mountain huts in the Alps and are maintained by branches, or sections, of the various Alpine clubs. Although the usual English ...

s act as bases for tours in the area of the Erlspitze Group: in the west is the

Nördlinger Hut The Nördlinger Hut (german: Nördlinger Hütte) is an Alpine Club hut belonging to the German Alpine Club that is situated at a height of south of the summit of the Reither Spitze in the Austrian state of Tyrol.''Seefeld Leutasch'' 1:25,000 hik ...

and, in the south, is the Solsteinhaus. In the northern part of the Erlspitze Group are two huts open in summer: the Oberbrunnalm and, in the Eppzirler Tal, the Eppzirler Alm. Important peaks (by height) * Erlspitze () *

Reither Spitze The Reither Spitze is a mountain in the Karwendel in the Austrian federal state of Tyrol that, thanks to its location at the southwestern end of the Erlspitze Group, is particularly well known for its great views of the surrounding area from its ...

() * Freiungen () * Kuhljochspitze () * Härmelekopf () *

Seefelder Spitze The Seefelder Spitze is a mountain east of Seefeld in Tirol in the Karwendel Alps in the Austrian state of Tyrol. It is 2,221 metres high and there is a summit cross at the top.''Seefeld Leutasch'' 1:25,000 hiking map, Wanderland-Verlag, 4th edn., ...

() * Fleischbanktürme () * Fleischbankspitze () * Karlspitze () * Seefelder Joch () * Zischgenkopf () * Zäunlkopf ()

Literature

* Walter Klier: ''

Alpine Club Guide The ''Alpine Club Guides'' (german: Alpenvereinsführer, commonly shortened to ''AV Führer'' or ''AVF'') are the standard series of Alpine guides that cover all the important mountain groups in the Eastern Alps. They are produced jointly by the G ...

Karwendel alpin.'' 15th edn., Bergverlag Rudolf Rother, Munich, 2005. {{ISBN, 3-7633-1121-1. Mountain ranges of the Alps Mountain ranges of Tyrol (state) Karwendel