Pho­to: Egerer

Zum deutsch­spra­chi­gen Arti­kel: https://www.bote-aus-der-buckligen-welt.at/2020/10/ausflugstipp-schwaigenrunde

Today we are pre­sen­ting a hiking tour in the Wech­sel – regi­on which almost meets anyone’s demands. Part­ly acces­si­ble even with a baby pram, but at the same time sui­ta­ble for ambi­tious wal­kers. Pan­o­r­amic views from the dif­fe­rent “Schwai­gen” (a “Schwaig” is a moun­tain pas­tu­re that is only ope­ra­ted during the sum­mer months) and regio­nal gas­tro­no­mic spe­cial­ties pro­mi­se diver­ting hiking tours.

Start­ing point of the Hoch­wech­sel – Tour is Stey­ers­ber­ger Schwaig (open year-round) in the muni­ci­pal area of Kirch­berg am Wech­sel. From here one walks to Kra­nich­ber­ger Schwaig – which is, like Feis­trit­zer Schwaig, only ope­ra­ted in sum­mer – in about 45 minu­tes. Via the Umschuss­rie­gel we move on towards the “Drei­län­der­eck” and the Hoch­wech­sel. The Wet­ter­ko­gel­haus, a hut on Wech­sel moun­tain, is ope­ra­ted from May until mid-Novem­ber. After some refresh­ments one can des­cend to Mari­en­seer Schwaig and return to the Drei­län­der­eck, from the­re eit­her take the forest road or walk via the so-cal­led Stei­ner­ne Kreuz (nicer alter­na­ti­ve) to Feis­trit­zer Schwaig – from here you can enjoy a pan­o­r­amic view towards the Hoch­wech­sel. Take the forest road back to Stey­ers­ber­ger Schwaig. If one covers the who­le distance, one has to mana­ge 17,46 kilo­me­ters and 700 meters dif­fe­rence in alti­tu­de – it will take about five and a half hours.

Alter­na­ti­ves

If one skips the detour from Drei­län­der­eck to Hoch­wech­sel and walks imme­dia­te­ly to Feis­trit­zer Schwaig, one can also shor­ten the tour. This way, one spa­res some meters dif­fe­rence in alti­tu­de, you need about three hours and are much faster.

Tour for natu­re lovers

Ano­ther alter­na­ti­ve pres­ents its­elf at the start­ing point bio­to­pe in Mari­en­see. From here you can get via “Schin­del­steig” to Mari­en­seer Schwaig in about 75 minu­tes. Or cho­se the Was­ser­fall­weg (water­fall path) – this takes one hour more yet offers beau­tiful natu­re and an impres­si­ve water­fall. Arri­ved up the­re, one can deci­de to eit­her “pay a visit” to Hoch­wech­sel or imme­dia­te­ly take the forest road direc­tion Drei­län­der­eck – from the­re one hikes via Feis­trit­zer Schwaig to Kampstei­ner Schwaig and then turns towards Mari­en­see. An idyl­lic hiking trail, you will not encoun­ter many peo­p­le, per­fect for tho­se who are loo­king for silence – simi­lar­ly when clim­bing via Schin­del­steig. Though, here one has to walk the last part on asphalt roads to return to the bio­to­pe. A good vari­ant for groups: park one car in Mari­en­see, the second one at the bio­to­pe. This tour takes about five hours.
Only the sec­tion bet­ween Stey­ers­ber­ger Schwaig and Kra­nich­ber­ger respec­tively Feis­trit­zer Schwaig is acces­si­ble with a baby pram.

Portrait-Eerwin-Jung

Tip from the moun­tain secu­ri­ty service

Get home safe­ly – safe­ty tips for lei­su­re time sports­men and sportswomen

It is high­ly recom­men­ded to work out a pre­cise rou­te sche­du­ling for long hiking tours. Espe­ci­al­ly in fall, always make sure to bring an appro­pria­te wea­ther pro­tec­tion, cap, gloves, as well as a first aid kit inclu­ding a res­cue blan­ket. Retur­ning is not a shame, the moun­tain will still be the­re at your next visit to the Buck­li­ge Welt – regi­on. Make sure that your mobi­le pho­ne is always ful­ly char­ged. For reasons of pre­cau­ti­on save the emer­gen­cy call num­ber of the moun­tain secu­ri­ty ser­vice 140. Have fun at your lei­su­re time acti­vi­ties – your moun­tain secu­ri­ty ser­vice St. Corona/​Kirchberg.

Pho­to: Berg­ret­tung
Erwin Jung