Lower Austria: Hohe Wand Nature Park

The High Wall had long been on our bucket list for a trip, now we finally wanted to visit the park. The more than 2,000 ha large Hohe Wand Nature Park is a popular destination for families with children, hikers, nature photographers and animal lovers. The up to 230 meter high cliffs fall towards the southeast, exposed to the so-called New World. There are several small and large caves in the limestone, such as the Kohlröserlhöhle (Czernyhöhle) near Felsenpfad or the Einhornhöhle, a show cave near Dreistetten.

The arrival and entrytt

Directions: It is best to enter the address of the car park into your sat nav or Google Maps: Kleine Kanzelstraße 241, 2724 Hohe Wand.
We arrive at the former toll road. From 2023, the toll will be included in the price: adults € 4.50, children (3–15 years) € 2,-, 1x free entry with the Lower Austria CardDogs allowed on a lead. Here you can find all pricesYou can get the Hohe Wand Nature Park entrance ticket at the Nature Park Centre, at the Skywalk ticket machine (card payment) or you can buy the Ticket online.
The park is well attended on weekends and holidays, but there is no rush at this time of day. There are only 3 cars in front of us. The entry will be collected at the toll station (adults € 2.50, children (3-15 years) € 1,-, 1x free entry with the NÖ Card).

Opening hours

365 days a year, summer time (May to September) 7am-7pm, winter time (October-April) 7am-5pm. Continue up the toll road. Be careful, the park is at around 1,000m above sea level - in winter you sometimes need snow chains here, even if everything seems dry down below!

Circular hike #2

The parking lot is still relatively empty. Today we want to Circular hike #2 which starts directly from the parking lot. We are traveling with a 2-year-old child. Luckily, he hasn't discovered the playground and all the animals from the petting zoo by the parking lot yet, so we can set off right away.

Route information RWW 2:

Length: 7.5km
Altitude metres: 246 ↑ and 210 ↓
Duration: 2 hours
Difficulty: Light
Round trip, family friendly
Past Alpengasthof Postl and Gasthof Luf

We pass the petting zoo and go along the forest animal trail. The forest path is wide and well graveled. You could even push a stroller along it. After a few minutes we reach the deer enclosure. The animals have a really nice place to run around here and you can even feed them.

The path continues through the forest, but now it goes up and down a bit, and there are more and more roots and stones on the path. From the enclosure onwards it is no longer recommended for strollers. Nevertheless, the path is easy to manage. After a short while you come to a road. You don't have to go down the road here, by the way. In the forest there is also a narrow but nicer path along the road until you turn left after a few hundred meters and go deeper into the forest again. Finally you reach the Alpengasthof Postl.

Here we briefly leave the circular path to see the Skywalk The direction is well signposted. This viewing terrace is built into the rock and offers an impressive view into the depths and over the Vienna Alps. In good weather you can see as far as Lake Neusiedl, although it was a bit hazy when we visited. The platform is not for those with a head for heights, as you can see down through the grating. It is not for nothing that it is called High WallWhile taking photos we even spotted climbers below us. But nothing can go wrong, the platform is secured in a child-friendly way.
If you are lucky, you can even see ibexes or paragliders in the area.

We go again back to our circular hiking trail. To the left, there is a wide, gravel path in the direction of Gasthaus Luf. The path invites you to just keep walking straight, but instead, after a few hundred meters, it turns right into the forest - don't miss the sign! After about 45 minutes, we reach the inn.

Gasthof Luf
I have been looking forward to the Baked chickenl that is supposed to be particularly good here. However, a sign at the entrance advertises a “Chamois goulash” I have never eaten chamois or even seen it on a menu. I don’t want to miss this opportunity. My wife orders baked Zeller, also a rarely seen dish.

Conclusion: The Zeller is good, but a bit boring after 3 slices. It would have been enough as a side dish. The goulash is OK, but the portion is manageable. I probably should have had the fried chicken after all.
We are comforted by the apple juice that the landlady freshly squeezed this morning. It is simply irresistibly good.

Strengthened, we continue through the forest towards the starting point. Shortly before the destination, we pass another very beautiful game reserve. By the time we reach the car park at around 2 p.m., we are already fairly exhausted. 
There we meet a group of hikers who are hiking through the forest with llamas and alpacas. However, you need to make an online reservation for this (when we checked the day before, the whole month was already fully booked)

The petting zoo

Now we're off to the petting zoo, the highlight for our little one. There are pigs, rabbits, alpacas, llamas, donkeys, small horses, chickens and sheep to feed (food costs €1). The children can even go into the goat enclosure. 

However, it must be mentioned that there is already a lot going on in the afternoon. The animals also seem to have already fattened up. There is certainly more food lying around on the ground than they can eat.
Nevertheless, our child is simply enthusiastic about the zoo and can hardly be persuaded to leave.

We actually wanted to go on the children's adventure trail, which is right next to it, but we had to give up this plan after 100 meters.

We spend the next few hours at the petting zoo and the children's playground. Luckily, we did our hike in the morning.

We want to get something to eat for the journey home at around 5pm, so we stop by the nearby Naturpark Stüberl. To our surprise, they have absolutely nothing left to eat, as they close at 5.30pm in October. So make sure that nothing similar happens to you.

We make a short stop on the toll road to see the outlook to enjoy one last time. The Hohe Wand Nature Park We will probably visit more often in the future.