Wachau World Heritage Trail 05: Mühldorf-Maria Laach (Jauerling-Wachau Nature Park)

Description

Welterbesteig Wachau - Wachau World Heritage Trail: From Mühldorf to Maria Laach

The stage from Mühldorf to Maria Laach leads from the Danube valley up into the heights of the Jauerling-Wachau Nature Park. Over the Trenning (628 m), the trail runs through the highest vineyard in Lower Austria, the Ried Trenning, and on up to the Jauerling, which at 960 meters is the highest mountain along the entire Danube. The landscape opens up to wide mountain ranges and offers impressive panoramic views far beyond the Wachau.

From the nature park house at around 915 meters, the route leads across the Jauerlinger high plateau and past the small hamlets of Gießhübl with its Wehrhof, Zeißing with its moated castle and castle ruins as well as the vineyard. The destination of this stage is the traditional pilgrimage site of Maria Laach with its Gothic pilgrimage church and the famous farmers' market, which provides an atmospheric end to this high-altitude hike with its stunning views.

Hiking along the Welterbesteig Wachau - Wachau World Heritage Trail reveals step by step why the Wachau has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage region. Along finely curated World Heritage spots, the defining World Heritage highlights become visible - the interplay of historic cultural landscape, traditional viticulture, extraordinary natural spaces and the Danube as a shaping element.

The Welterbesteig Wachau - Wachau World Heritage Trail has also been awarded the Austrian Hiking Seal of Quality. This certification stands for high quality standards in terms of route guidance, signposting, safety and infrastructure and confirms the World Heritage Trail as a reliable and high-quality hiking offer in the heart of the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Starting point of the tour

Mühldorf, market square

Destination point of the tour

Maria Laach, market square

Route description Wachau World Heritage Trail 05: Mühldorf-Maria Laach (Jauerling-Wachau Nature Park)

We leave Mühldorf market square heading towards Spitz, pass the inn Weißes Rössl and the municipal office, then turn right and cross the Spitzer Bach. Now the ascent to the summit cross on Mount Trenning begins. From the summit, we go down to the hamlet Thurn with the Ried Trenning, the highest vineyard in Lower Austria at about 450 m. In the hamlet, we begin the ascent to Jauerling. On picturesque forest paths and forest roads, we hike to the Nature Park House and its Wachau terrace (stamp station). From there, it takes 10 minutes to go right up to the summit cross of Jauerling. We pass the parking lot of the Nature Park House, turn right and reach the Turner meadow. Here we keep left and can already see the lookout tower on Jauerling, where a panorama awaits us from Schneeberg to Watzmann. Afterwards, we hike down to the mountain station of the ski lift and pass the lumberjack hut Stauferhütte into the forest.

The forest path leads us to a clearing near Gießhübl, where we can make a detour to the staffed Haberghütte opposite the medieval fortified farm Gießhübl. Over the historic church path, we descend with great views of Melk Abbey and Maria Laach to Zeißing. At the intersection before the village, we turn left for a detour to the rest area at the ruins of Zeißing Castle and the water castle. Back at the intersection, we follow the farm road uphill to the hamlet Weinberg – great panorama – and shortly after reach our stage destination at the market square in Maria Laach.