Ore Trail

Characteristics

Skill

Fitness

The tour in numbers

Level of difficulty medium

Route 7,0 km

Time 2:30 h

Uphill 300 hm

Downhill 300 hm

Highest point 1336 m

The Ore Trail is ideal for an evening walk as you can enjoy the sun light even longer in the higher altitude of Fastenberg on Planai.

The Erzwegrunde is ideal for an evening walk, as the altitude means you can enjoy the sun in the mountains all the longer. The hiking trail is at an altitude of between 1,050 and 1,350 metres above sea level and offers a magnificent view of the Ramsau plateau and the Dachstein massif to the north.

The Erzweg owes its name to the silver-bearing copper ore deposits, which were mined on the Krahbergzinken from the 17th century and transported to Schladming via a separate ore trail. The chalcopyrite, accompanied by zinc blende, is embedded in thin layers in the surrounding rock (sericite quartzite). The tunnel installations are collapsed and can no longer be travelled on. The huge mining dumps show the once great importance of this mining district.

Best season

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

More information

Exit from federal highway B320 East of Schladming (at the gas stations) and continue on Planaistraße road towards Fastenberg. After about 3.5 kms you reach Hotel Poserhof where the trail head is located.
Parking is available at Hotel Poserhof on Fastenberg.

From Hotel Poserhof you pass by Gästehaus Bergwelt and then walk along the Brandweg road. When you reach the trail junction with trail n° 50, you take this trail uphill to the Wieslechnerhof farm. There you make a right and walk along trail n° 100 to a hairpin in the forest road. About 50 meters after the hairpin you turn-off right onto the hiking trail, which is the historic Ore Trail, that takes you through the forest and over meadows (ski pistes in winter) to the moutain terminal of the 1st section of the Planai cable-car. A few steps further you reach a hairpin of Planaistraße road, wich you walk downhill for about 500 m to Berggasthof Jager inn. Walk past the inn and descend via a meadow trail to Planaistraße road below. Here you continue to the right via a forest road (a ski trail in winter). Once you leave the forest you make your way across a ski piste again and pass by under a ski lift station and follow the forest road downhill to Hotel Breilerhof . At the hotel you follow trail n° 100 through the forest until you reach the hairpin above the Wieslechnerhof farm again, from where you take the known way back to your starting point.

Changes in weather patterns, quick falls in temperature, thunderstorms, wind, fog and snow are some of the dangers that can be encountered on a hiking tour. Hosts of alpine huts and mountain refuges have a lot of experience in the mountains and can give good advice about weather and the trails. Poor equipment, overestimation of one's own capabilities, carelessness, poor personal constitution and/or wrong judgement can lead to critical situations. In case of thunderstorms: avoid summits, ridges and steel ropes.

GPS data and orienteering

Available GPS data - just like hiking maps - is only a guidance for orientation and can never depict a trail exactly with all its details. Especially at dangerous spots it is essential to judge on site how to proceed.

In an emergency please call:

140 - for Alpine emergencies (all over Austria)
112 - European GSM emergency number

Hiking or trekking shoes with grip sole, jacket.

Especially nice in the evening.

No public transport to the starting point.

Tourist information: www.schladming.com

Hiking map ‘Hiking WEST’ available at the information offices in the region.
Schladming hiking map, 1:25,000, available at the Schladming information office.
Hiking map Schladming-Dachstein, 1:50,000, available at the information offices in the region.
Hiking guide Schladming-Dachstein by Herbert Raffalt, available at the information offices in the region.