Hiking route Hike to the Ringwarte, Pöllauberg - Touren-Impression #1 | © Helmut Schweighofer Hiking route Hike to the Ringwarte, Pöllauberg - Touren-Impression #1 | © Helmut Schweighofer

Hike to the Ringwarte, Pöllauberg

From the Pöllauberg pilgrimage church, visible from afar, to Hartberg's landmark, the Ringwarte. A leisurely trail along orchards, fields and small streams.
The Ringkogel (795 meters high), visible from afar, is the landmark of the district capital Hartberg in Eastern Styria. The Ringwarte at the summit was built in 1906 with the help of many volunteers, 99 steps lead up to a view as far as Hungary or the Bachern Mountains in Slovenia. In addition to the Ringwarte, there is also an exciting children's playground and the "Rastplatzl zur Ringwarte" waiting for guests in the summit area. Together they form a highly attractive and much-visited excursion destination.

Pöllauberg also attracts many visitors with its pilgrimage church high above the Pöllau Valley and its magnificent floral decorations. The hiking trail from Pöllauberg to the Ringwarte connects these beautiful places and also offers wonderful views of the Pöllau Valley Nature Park and Hartbergerland.

If you have more time and are in good physical condition, you can hike on to Hartberg, stroll through the historic old town and enjoy the flair of the shopping town. If the way back is too long, you can order a SAM shared cab for the return journey.

A hiking trail that is not very demanding, but requires a good level of fitness due to its length.

Characteristics

Skill
Fitness

Best season

January
February
March
November
December

The tour in numbers

medium
Level of difficulty
21,3 km
Route
7:00 h
Time
800 hm
Uphill
800 hm
Downhill
970 m
Highest point

Map & downloads

More information

Pöllauberg, Nature park Arena

The Pöllau Valley Nature Park is located in the heart of Eastern Styria, the garden of Austria, approx. 60 km north-east of Graz and approx. 150 km south of Vienna

By car from ViennaIf you are driving from Vienna to Pöllau bei Hartberg, take the A2 towards Graz and drive about 110 kilometres until you reach the Hartberg exit. From there, follow the B54 in the direction of Pöllau.

By car from GrazTo get to Pöllau bei Hartberg from Graz, take the A2 motorway in the direction of Vienna. After about 30 kilometres, take the Gleisdorf West exit and then take the B54 towards Hartberg/Pöllau. Follow the B54 for about 25 kilometres until you reach Pöllau.

By car from SalzburgTo get to Pöllau bei Hartberg from Salzburg, take the A1 motorway towards Vienna. Drive about 110 kilometres to exit 109 (Salzburg junction). There change to the A9 motorway in the direction of Graz. At St. Michael, follow the S6 towards Kapfenberg. Continue on the S6 until the Krieglach exit. From there, take the B72 and then the L405 to Pöllau.

We follow the markings "Pankratiusweg" to the Schwaig, "Hartberg/Weg-Nr. 907" to the Ringwarte parking lot/Hubertuskapelle and "Ringwarte Brühlweg" to the Ringwarte.

Please order a SAM shared cab in good time for a possible return journey to Pöllauberg: Ring venue/Ringwarte, stop HF 6187 (at the parking lot/Hubertuskapelle)

Please be sure to check the opening hours of the restaurants BEFORE the hike!

Start: Parking lot of the nature park arena in Pöllauberg

We start in the direction of "Pankratiusweg"

At the next junction, we turn right towards "Hartberg".

We walk downhill along the asphalt road to the next crossroads, where we turn right downhill.

We immediately turn left and continue along the "Pankratiusweg" along the edge of the forest.

Before the electricity pylon, we turn right down into the forest.

We walk up a bit and then immediately cross the bridge.We pass the small door in the fence and continue slightly to the left.

We go through another gate and across the meadow.

Pass a wayside cross with a bench and we are back down by the stream and cross the bridge.

After the bridge, we keep right and immediately turn left up into the forest. Please pay attention to the path here, there are lots of fire salamanders in this area!

As soon as we leave the forest here, we walk straight ahead across the meadow up to the crossroads.

We cross the road and continue left uphill and after a few meters turn right uphill and continue along the edge of the forest.

We now have a beautiful view back to Pöllauberg.

At the top left we reach a small hill with a wayside cross and a sign "Viehzuchtbetrieb Tuttner".

Between the crossroads and the signpost, we continue left up the road.Before we reach the forest on both sides, we turn left onto the hiking trail.

We have now reached the asphalt road again and walk out to the right for a few meters and then immediately turn left again onto the hiking trail.

At the fork in the path in the forest, we continue left.

Immediately after a farmstead, we turn right out into the meadow.

We now walk across the meadow and reach the road again at a culvert.

We cross the road and continue straight ahead along the asphalt road.

We have now reached the highest point on the "Schwaig" at an altitude of 970 meters.

Immediately after the farmstead, turn right downhill and leave path no.

943 and continue on path no. 907.Along the edge of the forest, we descend to the road, cross it and continue along the fence (path no. 907).

Walk steadily downhill along the embankment, reach the asphalt road again and keep right.

We walk along the asphalt road to the crossroads, where we turn left and continue in the direction of "Hartberg/Weg 907".

At the next crossroads, we continue straight ahead until we reach the markings.

There we turn left downhill through the forest and change to the other road.

At the gravel path we now turn right uphill, only a few meters, then we turn left into the farm track and immediately right.

We walk straight ahead for a few hundred meters, taking care not to miss the turn-off to the left down into the forest.

We now walk directly alongside a small stream - until we take the turn-off to the left down into the forest.

We reach the road and thus also the parking lot or the access road to the Ringwarte. 

In front of us is the St. Hubertus Chapel.

We walk up the access road and then immediately turn left into the Ringwarte - Brühlweg and follow this well-marked path up to the Ringwarte.

At the Ringwarte we have reached our destination, the way back leads along the same path back to Pöllauberg.

A circular trail along the former ring wall provides information at six stations about the history and construction of the important Celtic settlement on the Ringkogel. 
Timetables and travel information can be found on the website of the Austrian Federal Railways or at Verkehrsauskunft Verbundlinie.

For local transportation we recommend the SAM-Sammeltaxi Oststeiermark. Please book in good time!

Pöllauberg, Nature park Arena
Information about the region, places to stop for refreshments and overnight accommodation, excursion destinations etc. can be found here:

Tourism region Eastern StyriaNature Park Pöllauer Valley officeSchloss 1, 8225 Pöllau,Austria Phone: +43 3335 4210

www.naturpark-poellauertal.at

www.oststeiermark.com

Current weather 

Mobility Eastern Styria with shared taxi SAM 

Kompass Map, Hiking Map Nature Park Pöllauer Valley 1:30,000

Find out about maps, hiking brochures and other tour tips at the tourist office. You can also order information material on our website from the comfort of your own home.

Tourism region Eastern StyriaNature Park Pöllauer Valley officeSchloss 1, 8225 PöllauTel: +43 3335 4210  www.naturpark-poellauertal.at www.oststeiermark.com

Rother hiking guide "Oststeiermark - Von den Fischbacher Alpen bis in die Thermenregion", 50 tours, Elisabeth Zienitzer & Silvia Sarcletti paperback, ISBN-10, 376334577 available in bookshops

Gallery

Kindererlebnis-Bauernhof Perhofer, Silvia | © Oststeiermark Tourismus, Rene Strasser

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