Hiking route Backbone (Rückgrat) / Bad Gleichenberg-St. Anna - Touren-Impression #1 | © Erlebnisregion Thermen- & Vulkanland Hiking route Backbone (Rückgrat) / Bad Gleichenberg-St. Anna - Touren-Impression #1 | © Erlebnisregion Thermen- & Vulkanland

Backbone (Rückgrat) / Bad Gleichenberg-St. Anna

Open
We hike from the Gleichenberger Kogel to the Stradner Kogel and further to St. Anna. On this hike we witness the past - do you see the extinct volcanoes?
In the footsteps of the volcanoes is a network of hiking trails through the entire Styrian Volcanic Land. This route shows us stage 2 of the backbone from Bad Gleichenberg to St. Anna am Aigen. We start our hike in the historic spa town of Bad Gleichenberg, which is surrounded by the Gleichenberger Kogeln. We walk through the spa park towards the south, see mighty trees and hear birds chirping. Then we leave Bad Gleichenberg and reach the country road via a sunny path. We cross it, pass a chapel and follow the path towards Stradner Kogel. The Stradner Kogel is the highest elevation (609 m) in southeastern Styria. This high plateau was formed about 2 million years ago and forms a wonderful environment for hiking. Our next stops are the Waltrafelsen and as a viewpoint the Schemmingkapelle. Here we have our destination, St. Anna am Aigen, already in front of us!

 

 

Characteristics

Skill
Fitness
Experience
Scenery

Best season

January
February
September
December

The tour in numbers

challenging
Level of difficulty
13,1 km
Route
4:15 h
Time
458 hm
Uphill
319 hm
Downhill
545 m
Highest point
267 m
Lowest point

Map & downloads

More information

By car via the A2 Südautobahn - Ilz exit via Riegersburg and Feldbach to Bad Gleichenberg or via the Gleisdorf-Süd exit to Feldbach and Bad Gleichenberg.

By car via A9 direction Graz, further A2 direction Vienna - exit Gleisdorf-Süd to Feldbach and Bad Gleichenberg

Detailed information on how to get to us can be found here.

From Bad Gleichenberg train station it is only a few meters to the historic spa park. The spa park of Bad Gleichenberg was laid out in 1837 by Countess Emma von Wickenburg. As we walk south through the park we are accompanied by chirping birds and squirrels. We leave the spa park at the "old fire station" and hike south. Our hike leads us to the main road, which we cross, reach the chapel and the small road to Steinbach.via Steinbach we hike through the mixed forest to the Stradner Kogel, which is with 609m the highest elevation in southeastern Styria. The Stradner Kogel is a basalt plateau and thus has no "real" summit. We cross the plateau and after a short hike we reach the Waltrafelsen. Here we see the "edge" of the basalt plateau. This place is an ancient cult place, which is also evidenced by findings. Our hike continues through the forest, where we reach a wonderful place with a view. The Schemming Chapel is considered an insider tip! Here a wonderful view of St. Anna am Aigen and the entire region opens up!

After a short break we continued our hike through the beautiful vineyards. Steeply downhill into the Pleschbach valley and steeply uphill again. We pass tennis courts and have one last hurdle to most. Soon we reach the village of St. Anna. Here we can once again look at the Schemming Chapel before we let ourselves be seduced by the Styrian wine in the Gesamtsteirische Vinothek.

Be sure to take a break at the Schemming Chapel and end the hike with a glass of wine or fruit juice at the Vinothek.
 

Detailed information about arriving by ÖBB (Austrian Federal Railways) can be found at  www.oebb.at or on the Verbundlinie Steiermark website  www.busbahnbim.at

 

With Verbundlinie’s BusBahnBim route planner app, planning your journey has never been easier: simply enter towns and/or addresses, stop names or points of interest to check all bus, train and tram connections in Austria. The app is available free of charge for smartphones – on Google Play and in the App Store

 

 

 

Free parking available at Bad Gleichenberg train station

Gallery

What the weather will be like

St. Anna am Aigen (411m)

Morning
sunny
4°C
0%
5 km/h
Noon
slightly cloudy
16°C
0%
25 km/h
Night
slightly cloudy
13°C
0%
20 km/h
Dry and partly sunny throughout the day, with cloudy periods from time to time.
Morning
very sunny
10°C
0%
10 km/h
Noon
very sunny
19°C
0%
15 km/h
Night
very sunny
15°C
5%
15 km/h
Dry and sunny throughout the day with hardly any clouds.
31.03.2024
slightly cloudy
8°C 19°C
01.04.2024
cloudy
9°C 20°C
02.04.2024
cloudy
5°C 14°C

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