The Hohe Wand: Natural Beauty in Lower Austria’s Mountains
The more than 2,000-hectare Hohe Wand Nature Park is a popular destination for families with children, hikers, nature photographers, and animal lovers. This park is located at around 1,000 meters above sea level in the Vienna Alps.
Quick Info:
- Where is it located? 1-hour drive south of Vienna; Nature Park Center, Kleine Kanzelstraße 241, 2724 Hohe Wand
- How much is the entrance fee? Adults €4.50, Children (3–15 years) €2, one free entry with the NÖ Card, dogs on a leash allowed. You can find all prices here. Since 2023, the toll fee is included.
- Where can I get tickets? 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.
- Opening hours: 365 days a year, summer time (May to September) 7 am to 6 pm, winter time (October to April) 8 am to 5 pm
The up to 230 meters high rock cliffs fall steeply to the southeast towards the so-called Neue Welt. In the limestone, there are several small and larger caves, such as the Kohlröserlhöhle (Czernyhöhle) near the rock path or the Einhornhöhle, a show cave near Dreistetten.
Facilities on the Plateau:
Directly at the parking lot:
- a natural children’s playground with slides, climbing facilities, and tree trunks for balancing
- adjacent to it is the petting zoo (the highlight for children). Here you can feed pigs, rabbits, alpacas, llamas, donkeys, ponies, chickens, and sheep (feed costs €1). Children can even enter the goat enclosure. In the late afternoon, the animals are quite overfed.
- an Alpine and local history museum
- a Nature Park lounge
- from here, the children’s adventure trail, 3 circular walks, the forest learning path, and the enclosure circular path start
- Forest educational tours, adventure tours, and llama trekking (for this, you have to buy tickets online in advance)
after a short hike or car ride:
- Fallow deer, ibexes, deer, mouflons, chamois (can be fed but not intended for petting)
- a dense marked hiking trail network, secured climbing routes, and free climbing areas as well as take-off points for hang gliders and paragliders,
- on the wall edge, there is a viewing terrace called “Skywalk” and a so-called “rock path” at the Kohlröserlhaus,
Very helpful hiking maps, overview plans, and brochures can be downloaded here: https://www.naturpark-hohewand.at/download
Find our review of our visit to the Hohe Wand Nature Park HERE.