Stage 08 Luchs Trail: Mooslandl - Palfau

Starting out from the Mooswirt Inn, you begin by retracing the last 15 minutes of yesterday’s journey, walking back until you reach a sharp left-hand bend (with a traffic mirror in its outer corner) leading down to the Enns Bridge. Instead of following the bend, you leave the main road and keep going straight onto a gravel road. The view of the river is blocked by some mixed woodlands with herbaceous undergrowth.

Continuing on the gravel road, you pass first a large meadow on your right and then a farmstead. Eventually you reach a signpost for the ‘Gasteiger Rundwanderweg’ (Gasteiger Circular Trail), which you now follow. This comparatively long stretch of today’s journey is marked by delightful scenic diversity – taking you through woodlands and across meadows, with impressive downward views into the valley of the Salza river.

Keep to the ‘Gasteiger Rundwanderweg’ (marked by frequent signposts) until you reach the main road up at the Radstatthöhe saddle. Having crossed the road, look out for another sign for the circular trail and follow the small, even path for a short time, until you get to a forest road. Now turn right and continue until you see a small, rather difficult-to-spot signpost for mountain bikers, marked ‘Buchsteinrunde’.

Take the path that forks off to the left, and make your way down a steep, overgrown woodland path. At the next ‘Buchsteinrunde’ sign, keep left. Once you notice some houses on your left, be sure to keep right, crossing over a little stream before making your way through a forest aisle to an asphalted road. Turn left and follow the road for a very short time – almost immediately turning off onto a footpath on your right (if you reach the stream, you’ve gone too far), which takes you to another paved road.

Turn right onto the paved road, walking across a bridge towards the ‘Akogel Aussicht’. Having passed the ‘Gsellmann’ horse stables, go left over a small bridge, heading towards the GEO Workshops. In a short while, you reach the entrance to the Nothklamm gorge (entry fees apply), which was declared a natural monument in 1970. Carved deep into the hard limestone, the Nothklamm gorge is without doubt one of the most impressive natural features of the Styrian Limestone Alps.

After an easy walk along the Gamsbach stream, you reach the 600-metre-long wooden walkway system that winds its way through the romantically wild gorge – first ascending, then descending. At the exit, you pass Styria’s only pebble mill. If you have enough time left, you might like to pay a visit to the nearby Kraushöhle cavern – the largest gypsum crystal cave in the German-speaking realm.

Having left the Nothklamm gorge, ignore the Circular Trail (which would take you back to the entrance) and walk straight on until, just before a bridge, you see the left-hand turning for a hiking trail. Follow the trail to a meadow with a farmstead, and then on to the Reiteralm pasture, situated on a saddle between the Akogel and Grantenkogel mountains.

At the end of the pasture, follow a forest road through the Augraben and Püllgraben hollows, all the way to the main road near Palfau. Turn right to follow the main road in an easterly direction. After around 700 m, turn left onto a small road, which takes you to Palfau in no time at all.

Find more information: www.luchstrail.at

We recommend that you make contact with the Luchs Trail  Information- & Booking Centre before making a booking.

Timetable inquiry at www.oebb.at or www.busbahnbim.at 

With the Verbundlinie BusBahnBim app, finding timetable information has never been easier: all bus, train, and tram connections in Austria can be searched for by entering locations and/or addresses, stops, or important points. The app is available as a free app for smartphones (Android, iOS) on Google Play and in the App Store.

In the Gesäuse region, you're mobile even without your own car during the summer months. Just one call to +43 3613 2100099 is all it takes: within operating hours, the Gesäuse shared taxi will take you to any destination in the Gesäuse — with no fixed timetable or stops.

Parking facilities are available at the respective starting points, which are subject to a charge, especially in the Gesäuse National Park area.

Further information

Tip: Please leave a note in your car with your telephone number and the date of your return, together with a note that you are on a hike lasting several days. The mountain rescue service will thank you!

Luchs Trail Info & Booking Centre

Trail Angels GmbH
Obervellach 15, 9821 Obervellach

Tel.: +43 47 82 93 093
Web: www.bookyourtrail.com
Email: info@bookyourtrail.com

Lower Austria Information Office:

Mostviertel Tourismus GmbH
Töpperschloss Neubruck
Neubruck 2/10, 3283 Scheibbs

Tel.: +43 (0) 7482 204 44
Email: info@mostviertel.at

Upper Austria Information Office:

Tourismusverband Nationalpark Region Ennstal
Eisenstraße 75, 4462 Reichraming

Tel.: +43 (0) 7254 8414
Email: info@nationalparkregion.com

Steiermark Information Office:

Tourismusverband Gesäuse
Hauptstraße 35, 8911 Admont

Tel. +43 (0) 3613 21160 10
Email: info@gesaeuse.at

Wanderkarte Luchs Trail

carto.at / Wander-, Rad- & Schitourenkarte „Nationalpark Gesäuse“
Gesäuseberge – Haller Mauern – Eisenerzer Alpen West, Nr. 801
M 1: 35.000 http://www.carto.at/gesaeuse/
Kompass/ Wander-, Fahrrad- & Schitourenkarte „Nationalpark Gesäuse“, Nr. 206
M 1 : 25.000  http://www.kompass.de/touren-und-regionen/wanderkarte/dest/100148-alpenregion-nationalpark-gesaeuse/
Alpenvereinskarte „Gesäuse und Ennstaler Alpen“, Blatt 16, M 1 : 25.000 http://www.freytagberndt.com/shop/9783928777346-alpenvereinskarte-16-ennstaler-alpen-gesaeuse/

Wanderkarte Luchs Trail