St. Pongratzen - Kapla Lake - Gravel Bike Dream Tour

Name: St. Pongratzen - Kapla Lake - Gravel Bike Dream Tour
Brand: Steiermark
Rating: 4 (3 reviews)

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The Pongratzen - Kapla Lake Tour has a lot to offer. Among them an absolute rarity in modern times. Specifically: silence and seclusion.

And in a dose that would have been enough for Henry David Thoreau to draw inspiration for his classic Walden - or Life in the Woods. On this mountain bike tour, it would come as no surprise to find foxes and rabbits admiring their reflection in Kapla Lake while reviewing the events of the day.

So what is this tour about? In contrast to numerous cycling tours in Schilcherland, the St. Pongratzen - Kapla See tour does not offer bikers culinary delights and refreshment stops strung together like a string of pearls. Instead, bikers will experience an area that offers pure nature, silence, the best air and wonderful panoramas. In addition, the climb from Lateindorf to St. Pongratzen is quite demanding. And the gravel roads in Slovenia prove to be a tailor-made paradise for gravel bike enthusiasts.

The "St. Pongratzen - Kapla Lake Tour - a gravel bike dream tour into seclusion" is the bike tour of your choice if you want to

are looking for a really cool gravel bike tour or want to try out your new gravel bike on the super easy gravel tracks of the Remschnigg,
want it to be really quiet and remote for once, are prepared to let this silence have an effect on you and want to combine a short holiday in seclusion with a thoroughly challenging bike tour,
love water and want to enjoy the jewel of a natural lake, Lake Kapla, in a completely unsuspected place,
want to soak up the "best of both worlds" on this mountain bike or e-bike tour, namely the incomparable view from St. Pongratzen into south-western Styria as well as the view on the Slovenian side of the Pohorje mountains and over towards the Styrian Alps.
look for a panorama-intensive flow downhill, which on this tour leads from the border crossing at Kapla back down to Unterhaag,
want to make a short detour from the tour over to the mini-village of Kapla and enjoy a super espresso and small snack in the shade of the church in the legendary Bar Olga.

Characteristics

Skill

Fitness

Experience

Scenery

Best season

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

The tour in numbers

medium

Level of difficulty

39,0 km

Route

3:00 h

Time

820 hm

Uphill

820 hm

Downhill

800 m

Highest point

317 m

Lowest point

Map & downloads

Go to tour details

Download GPX data

Download KML data

More information

Plan your journey via Google Maps to the starting point of the tour: www.google.at/maps

Directions from Graz / Vienna to Lieboch:

Take the motorway towards Graz (A2) to the Lieboch exit. Continue on the B76 in the direction of Eibiswald.

Directions from Carinthia:

On the motorway in the direction of Klagenfurt (A2) as far as the Lieboch exit. Continue on the B76 in the direction of Eibiswald.

Directions from Leibnitz:

Drive via Arnfels, Oberhaag to Eibiswald.

Directions from Slovenia/Eibiswald:

Drive over the Radlpass on the B76 towards Eibiswald.

Start from the starting point at the church in Eibiswald in an easterly direction and follow the route via Hörmsdorf, Feisternitz and the Feisternitzberg (short, poisonous climb) to Oberlatein.
From Oberlatein you start the beautiful, physically demanding climb to St. Pongratzen (around 400 metres of ascent).
At the latest on the small plateau below the church at Gasthof Legat, you should take a break as a cycling holidaymaker and enjoy the fantastic view of south-western Styria.
From the Legat Inn, we recommend a detour to the St. Pongratzen Church, which can be reached via a hiking trail (only on foot) or a very steep forest path (also possible by bike). If you are lucky, the south-facing door to the church tower is open. In this case, you can climb the observation platform of the church tower and have a 360-degree panoramic view of southern Styria and Slovenia from there.
From Gasthaus Legat, you then follow the gravel road around the St. Pongratzen-Kogel to the Oberhaag border crossing.
From there, a wonderful panoramic section begins in a southerly direction, offering fantastic views of the Pohorje Mountains and across to the Steiner Alps.
After a short, winding gravel downhill, take a sharp left and follow the gravel road to Kapla Lake or "Odomovo jezero".
From Kapla Lake, follow the asphalt road to the crossroads below the small village of Kapla, which can be recognised south of the trail by a small cluster of houses and the church tower.
It pays to make a detour into the village and just chill somewhere in the shade or enjoy a very good espresso in the Bar Olga.
Via the Kapla border crossing (tip: the south-facing bench at the barn directly at the border crossing is a real power spot.) you ride back to the Austrian side and enjoy the asphalted downhill from Remschnigg over Kohlberg to Unterhaag.On the cycle path from Unterhaag back to Eibiswald there is time to reflect on the tour mentally and emotionally.

The lookout tower of the church in St. Pongratzen is a must to climb, incredible distant views!

With ÖBB to Wies, then by bus or guest taxi to Eibiswald and Soboth.

ÖBB www.oebb.at or Verbundlinie Steiermark www.busbahnbim.at

With the BusBahnBim app of the Verbundlinie, timetable information has never been easier: all connections by bus, train and tram in Austria can be queried by entering places 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.

There is ample parking near the church square.

Plan directions via Google Maps to a nearby car park for the tour.

www.google.at/maps

Map with all mountain bike tours available at the businesses and at the Schilcherland Eibiswald-Wies tourist office!

Tip: the Styria Tours App, available free of charge on Google Play and in the App Store (Android, iOS) offers detailed first-hand information: short facts (length, duration, difficulty, ascent and descent in altitude metres, ratings), map, route descriptions, altimeter, compass, summit finder, navigation along the tour. In addition, you can create your personal list of favourite tours and points, save tours and excursion destinations offline, play on social media channels and more.