Nordwaldkammweg Tour 5 Freistadt - Sandl

The day stage starts in Freistadt at the Wanderstein (in the northwest corner of the city moat near the Scheibling Tower, N48° 30.790', E14° 30.176). You walk along the city moat towards Böhmertor to the east. At the Feldaist bridge east of the Church of Our Lady, you have to decide whether to hike via Zelletau and St. Oswald or via the Alm to Braunberg (the route via Zelletau is 1 km longer). Both routes are described on alpenvereinaktiv.

If we choose the path via Zelletau, we follow a short section of Oswalder Straße, past the old Böck tannery – now a cultural center – then go straight ahead at the first right bend and continue steeply uphill on the old road.

Where the old road meets the new one again, there is a chapel on the right and a noteworthy wayside shrine next to it. In the course of the S10 expressway construction, the Nordwaldkammweg was re-routed here. There is now a sidewalk on the left along Oswalderstrasse, which then branches off above the S10 tunnel to the left towards the forester's house and the Flaps fitness and running trail in Zelletau. We follow the marking through Zelletau along forests and meadows to the village of Reikersdorf (intersection with the local marking O5). The path then leads to the Modlbauern or on the road to Etzelsdorf. In front of Modlbauern, the road leads uphill to the youth hostel Rannahof of the Nature Friends. On the further way we see St. Oswald ahead and are already very close to Braunberg.

From St. Oswald we follow the ridge path marking, past the late Gothic church, first gently, then more steeply on the shaded side of Braunberg (good skiing terrain in winter), over Unter- and Oberreitern to the ÖAV Braunberghütte – it is 11 km from Freistadt. Along the way, we enjoy the beautiful view of St. Oswald, the Feistritz valley towards Florenthein, Lasberg, Hussenstein, and Viehberg.

At Braunberg, there is a magnificent view to the south of the Alpine chain (Großer Priel, Totes Gebirge, Ötscher, etc.). The Braunberghütte of the ÖAV Freistadt section (902 m, N48° 28.815', E14° 35.070') is located on the south summit of Braunberg at an altitude of 902 m. It is open from April 1 to October 30, Monday is a rest day, and long-distance hikers are accommodated by prior arrangement. The Braunberghütte is the only alpine club hut in the Lower Mühlviertel and has been a hostel for more than 80 years. It offers hikers comfortable overnight accommodation, with 30 beds in shared rooms and a mattress dormitory, and good food in the newly cozy guest room. The hut is equipped with running water, electric lighting, free WiFi, single showers, modern toilet facilities, and disabled toilets. There is also a good overview of the Braunberghütte in the YouTube video “Good that the Braunberghütte exists for you”.

From the Braunberghütte, you can reach the town of Kefermarkt in about 2 hours on a blue-marked path, where the world-famous Gothic winged altar is located in the church, and in about 1 ½ hours the Buchberg above Lasberg with the new Buchberghaus. Here the NWKW crosses the route No. 170 Karlstift – Mauthausen maintained by the Nature Friends.

NWKW Ia from Freistadt to Braunberg via the Alm

At the Feldaist bridge in Freistadt there is an alternative route to follow the Feldaist valley down to the roofing company Nowak and then uphill through the Manzenreith settlement to the Gänsecker farmhouse. From there you can already see the gallery of the S10 bypass, which is crossed on the right. After the Brandstätter farmhouse, it goes into the forest to the Alm. The Hofbauern chapel on the shortest connection between the market town of Lasberg and Gunnersdorf is worth a look before descending to Haugenödt (Lochstein on the path right after). The road to the Lasberg quarry is crossed on the way downhill. At the transformer (574m) we reach the road Lasberg – St. Oswald, which we follow to the natural monument Weißeneiche, a solitary old oak tree by the roadside belonging to Weissengut in Kronau (N48° 29.250', E14° 37.730'), before heading southeast again. After more than 300 meters of altitude, at a Celtic sacrificial bowl (a pre-Christian power place at N48° 28.825', E14° 35.004'), the Braunberghütte is almost reached, it is 10 km from Freistadt.

Further on the Nordwaldkammweg

The Nordwaldkammweg leads eastwards from Braunberghütte to the Braunberg east summit and then steeply downhill through a forest section into the village of Witzelsberg (parking lot of the Braunberghütte). From there the Nordwaldkammweg follows an asphalted farm track to Rosenau, where we turn right at Stiftungsberg. After reaching the St. Oswald — March road with a slight uphill, the Nordwaldkammweg turns left after about 100 m onto a small uphill road to the Haider farmhouse, from where you reach the forester’s house Rosenau via field and meadow paths and a short forest path.

From Rosenau we follow a narrow forest road, soon leaving it on the left and steering along a more comfortable path (forest path) to Holzmühle. At the former guesthouse in Holzmühle we cross the road and reach Obermarreith passing a game enclosure, several farms, and a new memorial cross uphill. The village, which lies at 950 m altitude, is crossed; at the Obermarreith fire station we turn left onto a short meadow path that brings us on a plateau to the guesthouse Pürstling. Passing by, we cross the Kollerbach or Harbe Aist on the road, hike on the road between fields and meadows over a raised bog and enter Lambartau. There a high forest welcomes us, and after a comfortable walk we reach the forester’s lodge Lambartau. We continue on the farm road and soon see the church tower of Sandl – our day’s goal.

Unfortunately, the section from Holzmühle to Sandl consists almost entirely of paved roads; therefore, it is recommended to use the local path O7 between Holzmühle and Steinwald and from Pürstling the path S8 via the observatory.