N09 Benedikt Pilgrimage Route Upper Austria Klaus/Pyhrnbahn - Vorderstoder

From the Parish Church Klaus, we go up to the federal road B 138 and follow it on the left footpath for about 300 m. We cross the large dam wall on the left, take one more look down at its base, and also enjoy the view over the lake. High on the right towers Klaus Castle. Then we follow the paved village road to the left, leaving the Seeblick Inn on the right, and continue on the paved road further into the Pertlgraben. Then we go under the motorway and after 300 m again under the A9 motorway.

Variant (at your own risk!): From the Seeblick Inn, one can also take the original Flötzersteig or Fischersteig. Here you first walk through the park behind the inn and then follow a path that runs very close to the shore of the Klauser reservoir. After about 6 km, you reach the large railway bridges over the Steyr valley. Here, you then follow the paved bike path to St. Pankraz. However, this path has some narrow, steep, and dangerous sections and is therefore not officially a hiking trail!

The main route takes us after passing under the motorway to Gut Traunfried (with open pasture) and then over a bridge. After this, we keep right and at the fork after about 600 m also right. After about 1.5 km, we reach a clearing (Helmlalm) and now ascend slightly along the Rettenbachgraben upstream. After about 3 km, we pass the Speringbauer farmstead. After this, we keep right and then take the steeply ascending farm road turning sharply right to the Pernkopf farmstead. (We ignore the left and right turns and follow the road!). Upon reaching the small saddle (Pernkopf farmstead), we are rewarded with a wonderful view of the surrounding mountains and down to the municipality of St. Pankraz. From here, we go about 300 m down the farm road, keeping left at the upcoming turn. We follow the road to the settlement in the so-called Helml factory area, cross the Teichl River, and continue up the ascending road on the opposite side to the village of Dirnbach to Hinterstoder station, which lies in the municipality of St. Pankraz. Just as in Roman times, when a mansio, a horse-changing station on the famous Roman road to Ovilava (Wels) to the north or to Aquileia in the south, existed here, there is still a large rest stop at the Pyhrn motorway. The Roman station was called Ernolatia.

Anyone wanting to make a detour to the beautiful Gothic parish church of St. Pankraz or planning to split this long stage should first walk up to the federal road (either before or after the station). From here, you must follow it left for about 1.5 km and then reach St. Pankraz by turning left onto the settlement path on the left just before the already visible church tower – passing below the railway. Don’t forget the beautiful cemetery and the old but newly renovated parsonage (wrought iron window grilles), which is now mostly used as the municipal office building.

(Klaus on the Pyhrnbahn – Dirnbach/St. Pankraz: 12 km)

On the main route, after the station, we now turn left onto the field path and marked bike and hiking trail and then walk straight over the bridge over the Pyhrn motorway (for a refreshment, you can go left before the bridge along the gravel road to the federal road or the motorway restaurant). After 200 m, we turn left at the settlement houses and – attention – after another 100 m, we take the path down into the forest on the right. It makes two hairpin turns and at the bottom, you pass a pumping station. Here we go immediately right to a road, which we then follow left along the Steyr River to the "Steyr Bridge." Just before this or the federal road B138, the “Flötzersteig” runs right under the bridge. We now follow this wonderful path (“Flötzersteig”), later a forest road, along the cool forest beside the Steyr upriver for about 3 km and reach a parking lot (rope course). Here we must go right out to the state road L552, cross it, and go right over the Steyr bridge, then sharply left at the parking lot, and follow the gravel road. After about 1 km, at the end of the gravel road, we take the path on the right up to two farmsteads. At the second (Eisterer), we continue left – wayside shrine – and follow the paved road past several farmsteads. We pass through Tambergau and after nearly 2 km turn right at a farmstead (do not go down the main path to the Sagmeister bridge!).

The valley narrows again. First, we walk about 1 km along a gravel road and follow the path at a fork left down to the Steyr. After 400 m, you cross the turbulent river over a wooden bridge and reach the natural spectacle of the Stromboding Waterfall after 200 m. It can be viewed from all sides. A little upriver, we cross another large wooden bridge and change back to the other bank. We now continue straight on the gravel path and reach a paved village road after about 600 m. There we go straight upriver along the shore (not left over the bridge), pass through the magnificently laid out Kneipp Park Hinterstoder – or let yourself be tempted to take a rest there – and after a wooden hut and some houses, reach a cross street. We now follow it to the left again, cross the Steyr over another bridge, and come directly to the municipal and tourism office along the road. Here we turn left and thus reach the center of Hinterstoder with the parish church, which is 50 m further on the village street (Dirnbach/St. Pankraz – Hinterstoder: 12 km).

From the parish church (dedicated to the Exaltation of the Cross), you go down the village street again, pass through the street and ski tunnel, reach the large parking lot, and change to the right side of the street after an inn. There you walk straight on after the ascent to the toll road to the Höss along the wonderfully laid out and well-maintained hiking trail in the forest. You pass a wayside shrine, reach a hotel parking lot, and then turn right onto the hiking path, which is initially flat, then slightly uphill. You pass crossroads and small ponds and reach the Landhotel Gressenbauer after about 600 m. Here we go right through the courtyard and continue on the access road to the right in front of the hotel building into the settlement of Mitterstoder. First, we go straight and then turn right uphill at the cross street. We keep left on the paved road here, where it then goes steeply uphill after a hut. The path makes a left turn, and we reach more houses. Before the last one, there is a short path to the right, and after a fence, a meadow path uphill. We follow this up to the farmstead (called Wartegg) and then go left on the access road at the top. We follow this at almost the same elevation, then come to a clearing with another farmstead. Now the path slopes down, and in the forest, we find an old forest path on the left. It is a small shortcut, but we can also follow the road down. At the intersection of the two paths, we now go right up the meadow path slightly uphill. After about 400 m, we cross the Knittelgraben and go immediately right up the forest road near the houses. This makes a left bend after about 300 m and after another 300 m a right bend. After another 200 m, we leave the forest and now cross the gently sloping meadows of the “Hutterer side” along the paved village road. We pass nicely maintained farms and can enjoy the beautiful view of the surrounding mountains. We can already see our destination Vorderstoder on the left front on the hill.

We keep along the main path and go slightly left down the street. At a sharp left turn, we turn right into the driveway to a house and cross the bridge over the Loigisbach there. Then there is a path partially over wooden posts, briefly through a swampy area, and we cross a stream again. After the bridge (children’s playground), we walk the narrow path uphill to the state road L551. We follow this right further up to the village center with the parish church of Vorderstoder, which we reach after about 400 m (Hinterstoder – Vorderstoder: 7.5 km).