The Hohe Wand (high wall) has long been on our bucket list for a trip, now we finally wanted to visit the park. The Hohe Wand Nature Park, which covers more than 2,000 hectares, is a popular destination for families with children, hikers, nature photographers and animal lovers. The cliffs, which are up to 230 meters high, slope down to the southeast, exposed to the so-called New World. There are several small and larger caves in the limestone, for example the Kohlröserl cave (Czerny cave) at the rock path or the unicorn cave, a show cave near Dreistetten.
The appraoch and entry
How to get there: It is best to enter the address of the parking lot into your GPS or Google Maps: Kleine Kanzelstraße 241, 2724 Hohe Wand.
We arrive at the former toll road. Starting in 2023, the toll is included in the price: Adults €4.50, Children (3–15 years) €2, one free entry with the NÖ Card, dogs on a leash allowed. Here you can find all prices. You can get the Hohe Wand Nature Park ticket at the Nature Park Center, at the Skywalk ticket machine (card payment), or you can buy the ticket online.
Öffnungszeiten
365 days a year, summer time (May to September) 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., winter time (October to April) 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. We continue up the toll road. Attention, the park is located at around 1,000m above sea level – in winter you sometimes need snow chains here, even if everything still seems dry below!
Circular hike # 2
The parking lot is still relatively empty. Today we want to complete circular hike # 2, which starts directly from the parking lot. We are traveling with a 2 year old child. Fortunately, he has not yet discovered the playground and all the animals from the petting zoo near the parking lot, so we can set off straight away.
Route information RWW 2:
Length: 7.5km
Altitude meters: 246 ↑ and 210 ↓
Duration: 2 hours
Difficulty: easy
Round tour, family-friendly
Past Alpengasthof Postl, Gasthof Luf and Hochkogelhaus
Past the petting zoo it goes along the forest animal trail. The forest path is wide and well gravel. You could even push a stroller here. After a few minutes we get to the deer enclosure. Here the animals have a really nice run, you can feed them too.
The path continues through the forest, but now it goes up and down a bit, more and more roots and stones are on the way. It is no longer recommended for strollers after the enclosure. Nevertheless, the path is easy to master. After a short time you come across a street. By the way, you don’t have to go down the street here. In the forest there is also a narrow but nicer path along the road until after a few hundred meters you branch off to the left and go deeper into the forest again. Finally you come to the Alpengasthof Postl.
Here we briefly leave the circular path to see the Skywalk. The direction is well signposted. This viewing terrace is built in rock and offers an impressive view into the depths and over the Viennese Alpine arc. In good weather you can see all the way to Lake Neusiedl, but it was a bit hazy during our visit. Incidentally, the platform is not for those with a head for heights, as you can see down through the grille. While taking photos we could even spot climbers among us. Nothing can happen, however, the platform is child-friendly. If you are lucky you can even see ibex or paragliders in the area.
We go back to our circular hiking trail. On the left it goes on a wide and gravel path in the direction of Gasthaus Luf. The path invites you to just keep walking straight, but instead turn right into the forest after a few hundred meters, don’t miss the sign! After about 45 minutes we reach the inn.
Gasthof Luf I’ve been looking forward to the fried chicken all day long, which is supposed to be particularly good here. However, a sign at the entrance praises a “chamois goulash”. I’ve never eaten chamois or even seen it on a menu. I don’t want to miss this opportunity. My wife orders a baked Zeller, another dish that is not often seen.
Conclusion: the Zeller is good, but a bit boring after 3 slices. That would have been enough as a side dish. The goulash is ok, but the portion is manageable. I should have taken the fried chicken after all. We are comforted by the apple juice that the landlady has freshly squeezed in the morning. It’s just irresistibly good.
Strengthened, we continue through the forest towards the starting point. Shortly before the goal, we pass a very beautiful game reserve again. When we reach the parking lot at around 2 p.m., we are already somewhat exhausted. There we meet a group of hikers who go hiking through the forest with llamas and alpacas. For this, however, you need an online reservation (when we checked the day before, the whole month was already booked out)
The petting zoo
Now it’s time to go to the petting zoo, the highlight for our little one. There are pigs, rabbits, alpacas, llamas, donkeys, small horses, chickens and sheep to feed (feed costs € 1). The children can even go into the goat enclosure.
Actually, we still want to go the children’s adventure trail, which is located directly afterwards, but we have to give up this project after 100 meters. So we spend the next few hours in the petting zoo and the adjoining children’s playground. Luckily we did our hike in the morning.
For the drive home we want to get something to snack on at around 5 p.m., which is why we take a look at the nearby Stüberl Nature Park. To our astonishment, however, they have absolutely nothing left to eat as they close at 5:30 p.m. in October. So make sure that nothing similar happens to you.
We make a short stop on the toll road to enjoy the view one last time. We will probably visit the Hohe Wand Nature Park more often in the future.
