The Mangfall Mountains are the easternmost slice of the Bavarian Prealps and Munich's favourite backyard playground. Here you can summit a peak in the morning and be sipping a beer by a lake in the afternoon — a rare mix of wild nature and easy access.

Shaped by glaciers of the last Ice Age, the landscape features classic U-shaped valleys and two glacial lakes, Tegernsee and Schliersee. Trails wind through gentle alpine meadows, dense beech and spruce forests (including the primeval Blaubergkopf forest), and rocky ridgelines higher up. Views stretch from the Tyrolean Alps to the flat foreland of Bavaria.

Highlights:

• Hinteres Sonnwendjoch (1986 m) — the range's highest peak, located just across the border in Tyrol
• Rotwand (1885 m) — the highest peak on Bavarian soil and a beloved local classic year-round
• Wendelstein (1838 m) — iconic viewpoint reachable by a historic cogwheel railway
• Brünnstein (1619 m) — a popular half-day hike near Rosenheim

Practical info:

• Best season: June-October for hiking, winter for skiing
• Base towns: Tegernsee, Schliersee, Bayrischzell
• Trail difficulty: easy lakeside walks to demanding ridge and scrambling routes (Ruchenköpfe, Roß- und Buchstein)
• Getting there: by car or train from Munich (about 1 hour), with good regional bus connections

Stone tools found near Rotwand rank among the oldest human artefacts discovered in the German Alps, proving these hills have drawn visitors for thousands of years.