Hiking Tour: “Öhler, Dürre Wand & Rastkreuz from Puchberg”

Scenic hiking tour from Puchberg am Schneeberg to Grünbach via the Öhler, Dürre Wand and Rastkreuz

The tour starts at the train station Puchberg am Schneeberg and first follows the streets westwards through the village towards Sonnleiten and the Wasserfall (white-red-white marked trail). Afer eventually passing the Wasserfallwirt, the tour follows now the trail towards the impressive Sebastianfall waterfall. Now the trail becomes steeper and leads up along the Sebastianbach river up to the Maumauwiese. Here the tour turns into the 01 Nordalpenweg and follows this trail eastwards towards the Schoberwiese. At the crossing, the tour leaves the trail 01 and heads towards the visible Schoberkapelle chapel. Right after the chapel, the tour then turns right and follows the steep and yellow-marked trail up to the Schober, offering impressive views when looking back onto Schneeberg. After mastering the steep ascent up to the Schober summit. The summit itself is surrounded by big trees and thus offers no view but the tour continues following the trail eastwards along the ridge and rewards with several scenic view points. Shortly before reaching the summit of Öhler (again, without view and without a summit cross), the tour asks for a deserved stop at the Schluckbank view point, offering one of the best views towards the impressive Schneeberg. After bypassing the Öhler the tour decends towards the Öhlerschutzhaus, offering a perfect place for a well-deserved lunch break. After being strengthened again, the tour continues following the red-white-red marked trail 01 Nordalpenweg eastwards towards Dürre Wand and further to Katharinenschlag and finally the impressive and scenic Plattenstein with the Gauermannhütte. Again, the hut offers again a perfect place for a scenic break and a refreshment before continuing the tour following trail 01 eastwards. After a few meters, an optional detour can be done towards the impressive Tablerloch cave (just follow the sign-posts), still following the marked 01 trail eastwards till reaching the crossing towards Schwaighof. Here, the tour turns right into trail 231 heading towards the impressive Tiefenbachfall waterfall. After passing by this waterfall, the tour then follows the L138 street northeastwards for a few meters to the Börsenhof Hornung restaurant and there turns right following the trail 201A towards the Hohe Wand / Rastkreuz and up to the Scheimhütte for a last, well-deserved break. After being again refreshed, the tour then follows the Bergmann-Steig downwards to Grünbach and the Grünbach Schule train station which is the end of the tour.

Tour Description

00:00	Start at the train station Puchberg am Schneeberg and follow the street westwards heading towards Schneeberg (along the cog railway).
00:02	Cross the cog railway track and the street and follow the trail next to the river northwestwards along the river.
00:06	At the crossing, keep straight, and then follow the Schlagwiesengasse street westwards.
00:10	Keep straight and follow now the Unternbergweg heading towards the Wasserfall.
00:25	Keep straight and follow the Losenheimer Straße westwards towards the Wasserfall.
00:42	Keep slightly right and follow the Wasserfallweg towards the Wasserfall-Wirt.
00:50	Pass by the Wasserfall Wirt and continue following the trail towards the waterfall.
00:55	Enjoy the impressive Sebastianfall waterfall.
01:10	Follow the marked trail on the left side of the waterfall and ascend through the forest up to the top of the waterfalls. Then continue following the marked route northwestwards towards the Maumauwiese.
01:40	Follow the trail 01 through the Maumauwiese meadow towards the Schoberwiese.
01:55	Follow the trail 01 through the Schoberwiese, heading towards the visible chapel at the end of the meadow.
02:00	At the crossing, leave the trail 01, keep slightly right and now follow the yellow-marked steep trail up to Schober.
02:30	Well-deserved break at the summit cross of Schober (best enjoyed with a self-brought ).
02:40	Follow the trail eastwards along the ridge towards Öhler.
02:55	Enjoy the view from one of the viewpoints on the trail.
03:15	Enjoy the scenic view towards Schneeberg from the Schluckbank with a self-brought refreshment ().
03:25	Continue following the trail eastwards, passing by the Öhler summit (no summit cross, no view) and descend down till reaching the Öhlerschutzhaus.
03:45	Well deserved break () at the Öhlerschutzhaus.
04:15	Keep following trail 01 eastwards towards Dürre Wand / Gauermannhütte.
04:40	At the crossing, keep straight and continue following the trail eastwards.
05:00	Pass by the Katharinenschlag summit (no view, no summit cross) and continue following the trail eastwards.
05:25	Well deserved break () at the cozy Gauermannhütte at the impressive Plattenstein. Tip: Buy a drink and sit at the summit, enjoying the stunnig view!
05:40	Continue following the trail eastwards.
05:50	Optional detour: Turn left and follow the trail towards the Tablerloch cave. After exploring a bit the cave, head back to the trail.
06:00	Back at the trail, continue following the trail eastwards.
06:15	At the crossing, turn right and follow the trail downwards to Schwaighof (see signpost).
06:20	At the Schwaighofer building, turn right and follow the street downwards towards the Tiefenbachfall waterfalls.
06:50	Enjoy the stunning Tiefenbachfall waterfall and continue following the trail down to the street.
06:52	Turn left and follow the street for a few meters till reaching the Börsenhof Hornung hotel and restaurant. You might consider optional doing a break here.
06:55	At the hotel, turn right and follow the street up to Oed / Grandhäusl (see signpost).
07:15	At the Grandhäusl, turn right and follow the trail 201A up to Rastkreuz.
07:25	At the crossing, keep left and follow the marked trail up to Rastkreuz.
07:45	Well deserved break () at the Scheimhütte at the Rastkreuzsattel.
08:15	Follow the forest road southeastwards towards the Bergmannsteig.
08:20	Leave the forest road and turn into the Bergmannsteig trail, descending directly to Grünbach.
08:40	At the crossing (bus station), turn left, bypass the football field and follow the trail down towards the railway track and further to the train station Grünbach Schule.
08:45	Arrive at the train station Grünbach Schule, end of the tour.

General Tour Data

Area:		Wiener Alpen, Lower Austria, Austria
Distance:		28km
Ascent:		1515m (2h 45min)
Descent:		1450m (1h 40min)
Highest Pt:		1223m
Lowest Pt:		500m
Duration:		6h 10min (without breaks) 8h 45min (with breaks)
Stop/Rest:		Öhlerschutzhaus (1027m) Gauermannhütte (1154m) Scheimhütte (868m)
Equipment:		Backpack with standard hiking equipment Comfortable hiking shoes Snacks, Food and plenty of water 2x Gipfelbier Sun & Weather protection Camera