Masenberg forest nature trail - long variant, Pöllau

Name: Masenberg forest nature trail - long variant, Pöllau
Brand: Steiermark
Rating: 5 (3 reviews)

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The Masenberg forest nature trail is an interactive educational trail in the Nature Park Pöllauer Valley ...

... whose stations are explained in videos or on boards along the way.

There is a long and a short version of the forest nature trail. The longer version (approx. 8 km, approx. 3 hours pure walking time) starts at the Hotel Muhr and is divided into the following stages (see route description):

Hotel Muhr - Zisser Taverne (former inn) Grünauer
LüßwaldsattelLüßwaldsattel - Dorfhanslkapelle chapel
Dorfhansl Chapel - Hotel Muhr

The short variant starts at the refuge on the Masenberg.

In addition to a separate brochure, there is also an interactive video guide for smartphones. It is advisable to install the videos on your device beforehand. Information can be obtained from the tourist office on tel. 03335 4210 and the Pöllauer Tal Nature Park Association on tel. 03335 3740. Video downloads on "youtube" (keyword Videolehrweg) or using the QR code on the information board and folder.

Characteristics

Skill

Fitness

Best season

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

The tour in numbers

medium

Level of difficulty

8,4 km

Route

2:30 h

Time

350 hm

Uphill

350 hm

Downhill

1087 m

Highest point

Map & downloads

More information

Pöllauberg, Hotel Muhr

The Pöllau Valley Nature Park is located in the heart of Eastern Styria, the garden of Austria, approx. 60 km north-east of Graz and approx. 150 km south of Vienna

By car from Vienna
If you are driving from Vienna to Pöllau bei Hartberg, take the A2 towards Graz and drive about 110 kilometres until you reach the Hartberg exit. From there, follow the B54 in the direction of Pöllau.

By car from Graz
To get to Pöllau bei Hartberg from Graz, take the A2 motorway in the direction of Vienna. After about 30 kilometres, take the Gleisdorf West exit and then take the B54 towards Hartberg/Pöllau. Follow the B54 for about 25 kilometres until you reach Pöllau.

By car from Salzburg
To get to Pöllau bei Hartberg from Salzburg, take the A1 motorway towards Vienna. Drive about 110 kilometres to exit 109 (Salzburg junction). There change to the A9 motorway in the direction of Graz. At St. Michael, follow the S6 towards Kapfenberg. Continue on the S6 until the Krieglach exit. From there, take the B72 and then the L405 to Pöllau.

Hotel Muhr - Zisser Tavern - Grünauer

The forest nature trail starts at Hotel Muhr (long route: 8 km, approx. 4 hours - pure walking time approx. 3 hours), which is marked with blue dots.
A display board at the parking lot provides an overview of the route of the forest nature trail, which we follow to the Zisser Taverne (former inn).
It first leads us through the forest and then along a forest road past the Hirschalm hut, where we come across station 2 of the forest nature trail.
Walking uphill, we reach the Zisser Taverne (municipality of Pöllau/Sonnhofen) and come to a crossroads.
We turn right towards Masenberg and continue to follow the blue dots. Finally, after turning right again into an ascending municipal road, we reach the Grünauer Wegkreuz and station 3 of the forest nature trail.

Grünauer cross - Lüßwaldsattel

After this station, we walk along the edge of the forest and then along a forest path to station 4.
The gentle path climbs steadily and we reach a property where the view opens up towards Stuhleck and Wechsel as well as the Vorau basin.
Station 5 invites us to sharpen our senses again. The path leads back into the forest and, after a short downhill section, we reach the striking Lüßwaldsattel junction.

Lüßwaldsattel - Dorfhansl chapel

Once at the Lüßwaldsattel, we follow trail no. 941 in the direction of Pöllau and the "Waldlehrpfad" sign. The well-maintained forest path, which is also marked with blue and yellow dots, takes us to the Dorfhanslkapelle chapel, just behind the signpost, in about 15 minutes.
From here, the shorter trail (yellow dots) of the forest nature trail leads up to the starting point on the Masenberg, the longer trail (blue dots) continues to the Hotel Muhr, which we follow.

Dorfhansl chapel - Hotel Muhr

Once we reach the signpost, we follow the red-white-red markings no. 941 in a westerly direction towards Pöllau and the blue dot.
After the Dorfhansl estate, the path runs downhill along the edge of the forest, past the turn-off towards Zeilkratzer and Pöllauberg and takes us past a few houses onto a flat section of asphalt road, which we follow.
After a sharp right-hand bend, the view of the Pöllau valley slowly opens up. Finally, the access road joins the municipal road at a large weather cross and we hike downhill.
At the next signpost after a few meters, we turn right.
We continue to follow the forest nature trail and walk slightly downhill along the access road until the path leads us left into the forest. We continue slightly downhill along the high trail and reach the "Panoramablick Pöllauberg" viewpoint with the last stop on the forest nature trail.
We turn off here towards Hotel Muhr and thus reach our starting point.

The educational trail is designed for all age groups from 10 years upwards. We recommend taking a notepad and writing utensils with you!

Timetables and travel information can be found at Österreichische Bundesbahnen (ÖBB) or at Verkehrsauskunft Verbundlinie.

For local transportation we recommend the SAM-Sammeltaxi Oststeiermark. HF5842 Zeil-Pöllau - Hotel Muhr am Pöllauberg

Pöllau, Hotel Muhr

Information about the region, places to stop and stay, excursion destinations etc. can be found here:

Eastern Styria Tourist Board

Pöllau Valley Nature Park office

Castle 1

8225 Pöllau

Phone: +43 3335 4210

www.oststeiermark.com

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