N08 Benedict Pilgrim Path Upper Austria Spital am Pyhrn - Vorderstoder

The pilgrimage stage begins in front of the former collegiate church of Spital am Pyhrn, and you head northwest towards the car park and then briefly along the settlement road extending from the large car park. About 100 m before the "Hotel der Freunde der Natur" a hiking trail branches off to the left, which you now follow over the hill; you are accompanied by images of St. Benedict ("Benedict Meditation Trail"). After the field cross (dedicated to the municipal doctor couple Dr. Girtler) you continue right along the path, which after further bends leads back to the federal road after about 500 m. You now follow this to the left (along the bike path) for about 150 m and go under the railway underpass. Immediately after, turn left again onto the village path (also bike path) and follow it past the train station, leaving on your right the fish ponds of the former Kohlhof or the so-called Fredi Lake, then follow the railway side road for about 500 m. At the intersection (which is also a railway crossing), follow the paved connecting path to federal road B138 to the right.

For just under 100 m you follow the B138 to the right, cross it and go left to the farmstead called Mitterwenger. Here you take the romantic path along a small body of water through the forest uphill. Attention: At the cross path at the top, turn sharply left (watch for a pasture gate or signposts) and continue slightly uphill on the forest path and later level over a meadow, which is not always mown. You now reach a handsome farmstead (called Grössing), walk along the farm building to the right to the farmhouse, follow the paved access road to the left down to the farm track called Helml and then immediately turn right. After about 300 m at a crossroads, go straight ahead past the next farm (called Helml) and then right slightly uphill. After about 200 m, in front of a single-family house, keep left onto a field path, which then leads through a forest by two houses at the forest edge – first level, then slightly uphill. Finally, after the forest, you come to the very beautifully situated Danschbach Chapel on a plateau, inviting you to pause (water fountain) and silent prayer. After the chapel, cross a farm track, go straight ahead and then after about 50 m take the right branch of the paved path, which leads down into the Frait gorge with the Winkler stream to the (former) Stanglmühle mill; Spital am Pyhrn - Stanglmühle: 6 km.

Just before the residential house of the former Stanglmühle mill, turn sharply left over a bridge onto a gravel path, which you now follow along the stream through the romantic Frait gorge for about 2.2 km. You cross the stream over several bridges, also passing the rebuilt Ramitscheder mill. After a small stream diversion for a power station, you come to a wooden cross on the left and at the fork in the path (a short detour to a double small waterfall is possible to the right; about 300 m), take the left branch over the bridge; the gravel path leads uphill along the gorge slope and reaches after about 200 m a paved asphalt path, which you follow briefly downhill to the right. After a farmhouse, take the path on the left and pass some houses. The path now leads to the beginning of the Edlbach golf course and from there joins another village road.

Now follow this path to the right, slightly downhill past some buildings; at the next intersection turn left and continue along the paved street for about 200 m. The place sign "Edlbach-Dörfl" now directs us to the right towards some houses (Dörfl). There, before the bridge (narrow point), turn right to the premises of a sawmill. At the dam and water supply, turn left and pass the residential house straight through the operation area (attention: operational traffic!). Behind the former stable building in the operation area is a broad wooden bridge over the Dambach stream, which you cross.

Then follows a wonderful forest path along the Dambach. Here you are, among other things, on the "Millionenweg" with signs that provide information about the geological special features. After about 2 km, you reach the beautifully designed nature park with a large archaeologically valuable stone exhibition. Here you first walk in a long right arc around it (following the Dambach), then turn left onto the gravel path and after about 100 m, keeping left again, steeply uphill. When you reach the top, follow the beautifully designed panoramic path to Windischgarsten to the right. Here you can enjoy the view of the town and the mountains of the Stoderkamm. (Variant: In the park, follow the gravel path - or go straight through - and follow the path past the swimming pool and the local history museum, then immediately go left up the street.)

At the following intersection, keep straight (slightly to the right) and go slightly downhill for about 200 m along Rosenauerweg; then - just before the parish farm on the right - a staircase leads left down to the main street, which you follow left for about 50 m, cross the street, then take the paved path down to the church (called "Benedict path"); Stanglmühle - Windischgarsten: 6.5 km.

From the parish church of St. Jakob, walk about 100 m to the right towards the main square and the main street. You follow this to the left in a curve through the center of the market town with its numerous shops and places to eat. At the street triangle with Linzerstraße, now follow the Gleinkerseestraße to the left for about 300 m towards Gleinkersee. After the large Römerfeld cultural house and the Volksschule of the same name (the Roman soldier statue there made of metal points to Roman excavations and the Roman postal station "Gabromagus"), take the left street here and walk straight ahead for about 300 m, among other things past company buildings. At the crossroads, a field path leads us slightly right first over a drainage channel and then along a small hill up and back down to the railway underpass. Here, follow the Gleinkerseestraße to the left again for about 2 km (federal road underpass; underpass of the A9 motorway).

Immediately after two houses (with junctions on both sides), take the straight ahead continued branch (farm track called Unterkotgraben) to the right, which leads directly to a farmstead. After this, a well-marked path leads through the forest uphill towards Gleinkersee. This path, which once crosses a small footbridge, meets the Gleinkerseestraße again after some time, which you follow to the right for about 50 m, then take the left path of a farm driveway, which branches off to the right as a field path before the farm and leads again uphill through a forest. You meet the Gleinkerseestraße again, walk it for a few meters to the right and then immediately take the path uphill to the left, which passes some houses and again leads into the Gleinkerseestraße. Follow this for about 300 m to the car park at Gleinkersee. Just over 100 m south straight ahead across the car park and you reach the guesthouse and campsite Seebauer directly at Gleinkersee at 806 m above sea level; Windischgarsten - Gleinkersee: 5 km.

At the end of the car park - just before the guesthouse - take the right path up to the campsites and go straight ahead along the paved path at the top. After about 100 m, turn right and follow the gravel path to the paved road, which you now follow left uphill to the farmstead and former guesthouse "Tommerl." After the farm building, turn right onto the field path (turnstile). Follow this for about 200 m. The path now leads into a forest road, which we follow left; this leads into a paved street, which we now follow downhill past some houses ("Koglerhütte"). Attention: About 100 m after a biological sewage plant on the left, we now take the partly steep path with steps down through the forest to the Pießling stream. Down below, a small bridge crosses the wide streambed of the Pießling to a gravel road opposite.

Note: Here you can make a worthwhile detour downhill to the left. After about 300 m you will find a wonderful rest area and already hear the loud rushing. Via a short and secured path, you reach the natural spectacle of the Pießling spring (the largest karst spring in the Eastern Alps!), one of the very rare places in the world where the mountain river springs from an underground lake and is fed by the karst waters of the rock plateau above.

If you do not go to the Pießling spring, follow the gravel road to the right after the bridge out to Roßleithen. You will pass the impressive dam system and the former scythe smithy ("Waldhammer"), can admire the largest scythe (world record) and can still visit a modern scythe factory (Schröckenfux) and also make a factory purchase (not only scythes!). For a coin, you can set old devices and machines, such as a bone mill, in motion. You reach the town of Roßleithen after about 1 km, pass by the small car park under the former guesthouse "Sengsschmied" on the right, cross the state road L551, and go down the pavement on the left to the large car park.

(Gleinkersee – Roßleithen: about 3 km)

Now follow the L551 straight across the Pießling bridge, but turn left immediately at the end of the bridge and go up the first steep path. This leads further uphill through the forest. At junctions always keep to the right and go uphill over a meadow to the farm called Weingart.

Go through the farmyard and then immediately continue left uphill along the paved road. About 100 m after two houses at the edge of the forest, turn sharply right into the forest road and then immediately after another 50 m sharply right onto the path that goes downhill through the forest again. Shortly above another farm (called "Perleiten") you walk briefly along the forest edge (attention: remember to close pasture fences!). The forest path then crosses a forest road, which you meet again after about 200 m. On this forest road, continue uphill to the left. We now follow a drainage channel, the Retschitzbach, lightly uphill through the forest and come to a gravel road, which we follow to the left uphill along the channel. At the left bend after almost 200 m, we turn right onto the path further along the Retschitzbach. After about 200 m we hit a path, which we now follow right and immediately cross the channel. After a short forest section, we come to a meadow and walk uphill to a field path. Here we go right past a farm above and after some buildings keep left uphill and go up the gravel road into the forest. After about 400 m the path curves left over a forest hill and after just under 100 m downhill we reach a wide meadow. Here you have for the first time a magnificent view of the peaks of the Totes Gebirge.

(Roßleithen - Gaisriegl: 4.5 km) 

Now follow the paved path straight downhill past beautifully maintained farms, take a break at the "Schmusebankerl" (created by wood artist Siegerl Pernkopf) or down by the stream (Schafferteich car park with toilets). Go right further: at the end of the car park, turn left onto the path and go down along the Loigis (Hammerlgraben) about 500 m to the open area with houses and follow the paved path out. Follow this to the right until after the large farm called Schaffer. Then we walk the beautiful hiking trail with views of the church and town down into the gorge and directly uphill again to Vorderstoder up to the parish church St. Leopold with the late Gothic Madonna and the image of grace "Maria am Stein".

(Gaisriegl - parish church Vorderstoder: 2.5 km)