Left hand track (Linke Handspur) / Bad Loipersdorf-Bad Gleichenberg

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The Linke Handspur (Left Hand Trail) leads from Bad Loipersdorf via Unterlamm and Fehring to Bad Gleichenberg.

In Unterlamm, the Vulkanland stretches its five fingers of the left hand furthest to the east. Starting from the fingertips, the hand trace leads from the Loipersdorf spa resort over a few twists and turns into the Raab valley, where old arms indicate the formerly winding course of the Raab. We leave the Raab valley via the Kuruzzenkogel, which centuries ago was the defensive elbow to ward off unwelcome intruders. Over the volcanic Kapfensteiner Kogel we then head - accompanied by fiery power - heartwards to Gleichenberg. In this heart and lung centre, the fiery exhalation point of the region is located at the Linden Chapel.

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

36,5 km

Route

9:30 h

Time

502 hm

Uphill

563 hm

Downhill

498 m

Highest point

Map & downloads

More information

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

Starting from the main entrance, we walk towards Hotel Stoiser, change sides of the road at the roundabout and after a few metres we see the entrance to several hiking trails on the right. We pay attention to the signs for the hand trail and hike through the forest. We continue across the open hilly landscape to the lookout point, from where we look down on the village of Unterlamm and "to the neighbours". Through the pretty village we come to the Celtic Tree of Life Circle, one of the stations on the Experience Trail of the Senses, which has accompanied us to this point. Via the Nesselbachberg and the Mauserberg we reach Hohenbrugg on varied paths.
In keeping with the hand trace, we first go to some old arms of the Raab, where a Tschartake reminds us of the region's fortified past. A variant with a loop via Weinberg is possible. Past Hohenbrugg Castle, we hike to Fröhlichberg and on to Weinberg. From here we cross the Raab valley and arrive in the town of Fehring. Worth seeing, apart from the Tabor complex, are the openly designed main square and the parish church dating from 1305, where attentive visitors will also find the statue of the Virgin Mary with the crooked mouth, a carving error in the course of a "modernisation" of the Gothic statue. Via the mystical quarry, we ascend again to the Kuruzzenkogel, historically a fortified elbow towards the east, today a picturesque hiking destination with its Kellergassl and the beautiful Kellerstöckln.
From now on, we hike enjoyably along the hill until we reach the fieriest area of the volcanic land with the Kapfensteiner Kogel. The path leads us a little downhill through the forest, further over the main road and then quite level, straight towards the Gleichenberger Kogel. After the very unusually designed Pfeiferkapelle (whistler's chapel), the trail descends a little further, through elder plantations and a very dense small wood and finally up again to the Trass quarry with its shimmering play of colours. Here the hand track meets the spine. We follow it below the Bschaidkogel past the millstone quarry and then down to the centre of Bad Gleichenberg, our destination on the Left Hand Trail.

Timetables and travel information can be found directly at: Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB), Steiermärkische Landesbahnen (STLB), www.busbahnbim.at.

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

Tourist Office
Thermen- & Vulkanland
Hauptstraße 2a
A-8280 Fürstenfeld
info@thermen-vulkanland.at
www.thermen-vulkanland.at