Challenging hiking tip from Payerbach to Puchberg

Difficulty: Difficult
Distance: 35,47 km
Duration: 12:30 h
Ascent: 2041 m elevation gain
Descent: 1957 m elevation gain

Two-day hike over the Schneeberg. The trail along the Wiener Alpenbogen - Arc of the Viennese Alps (trail) and the regional routes lead from Payerbach over the Schneeberg to the certified hiking village of Puchberg am Schneeberg.

Starting point of the tour: Payerbach train station
Tour destination: Puchberg am Schneeberg train station

Difficulty: Difficult
Distance: 35,47 km
Duration: 12:30 h
Ascent: 2041 m elevation gain
Descent: 1957 m elevation gain

Fitness level required:
6/6
Overall experience:
5/6
Scenery:
6/6

Lowest point484 m
Highest point2075 m

Nice views
With refreshment stops
Accessibility by train and bus
Summit tour

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Description

Not technically demanding, but challenging in terms of fitness. The two-day tour from Payerbach to Puchberg am Schneeberg over the highest mountain in Lower Austria is not suitable for advanced hikers, unless the tour is split over several days. The first day leads from Payerbach on the Regional Route J uphill to the Naturfreundehaus Knofeleben and continues via the Krummbachstein on the Wiener Alpenbogen - Arc of the Viennese Alps (trail) to the Fischerhütte on the Schneeberg. After this long day, the evening snack and sunset are particularly enjoyable. The second day follows the trail along the Wiener Alpenbogen - Arc of the Viennese Alps (trail) via the Fleischer Gedenkstein to the Edelweißhütte and from here the Regional Route P to the hiking village of Puchberg am Schneeberg.

Equipment Always take suitable maps. Wear solid shoes adapted to the route, take sun and rain protection as well as water and a snack. Take your mobile phone with you and save the mountain rescue emergency number: 140
Route description We start with the Regional Route J at Payerbach-Reichenau train station. The first few meters we walk over the parking lot and follow the asphalt path westwards downhill to the street. Here we turn right under the railway tracks and follow the street uphill. After a left and right bend, we leave the street to the left onto a blue marked hiking trail and climb uphill through the forest. We cross an asphalt road and meet the street again after a few minutes. We walk past the Hochberger homestead and now follow the blue marked hiking trail steeply uphill towards the Jubilee viewpoint. A short section is secured with chains, but the path is hardly exposed. We gladly accept the short detour to the Jubilee viewpoint and look into the distance.Back on the hiking trail, we follow it steadily uphill towards the Waldburganger hut, come across a forest road and leave it after a few meters to the left onto a marked hiking trail. Only a few more altitude meters separate us from the Waldburganger hut. We enter a gravel road that leads us across the Boden meadow. At a right curve, we leave it half-left onto a meadow path. Continuing, keeping left on a gravel road towards Hochschneeberg into the forest. After 15 minutes, at a fork, we choose the right path; only 100 meters later we turn left. After a few minutes, we turn left onto a blue path to the Lackaboden hut and follow the path behind the hut to the left to a forest road. Here we turn right onto the forest road towards Knofeleben. After 3 kilometers and a gentle ascent, we reach the Naturfreundehaus, the brightest shelter in Austria.The path to Krummbachstein leads along the path on the Wiener Alpenbogen past the hut to the left towards the Elisabethkirche viewpoint. A few minutes later, we turn right from the comfortable forest path onto a hiking trail and follow the green marking steadily uphill. On a small hill with a bench, we look at Schneeberg and the summit of Krummbachstein. We walk briefly down to a saddle and climb up the rocky ascent path, partly using hands, to the 1,602-meter-high summit of Krummbachstein. The ascent was definitely worth it because of the fantastic view. We leave our mark in the summit book and descend eastwards from the summit towards Elisabethkirche. At a meadow, we walk past the self-catering hut Alpenfreundehütte and stroll through dwarf pines to a clearing. Here we look left at the Elisabethkirche on Schneeberg, which perches below Waxriegel on the mountain edge. A signpost points purposefully to the viewpoint at Schneeberg. But between Krummbachstein and Elisabethkirche, the descent on the green marked hiking trail leads us to the Krummbach saddle at 1,333 m.We cross the meadow and climb a forest path again. At a pasture fence, we turn right onto the track towards the Baumgartner stop. Near the cog railway, just before the Buchtel station (open during the Schneeberg railway season), we turn left onto the gravel path. We climb slightly uphill, cross the cog railway and ascend a few meters. On the yellow marked hiking trail, partly very stony and slippery, we walk towards the Hochschneeberg station. It only gets flatter about an hour later when we have almost reached the Elisabethkirchlein. The viewpoint is halfway between the church and Hochschneeberg station. In the walk through the kaleidoscope, we learn all kinds of interesting facts about the history of the Schneeberg railway.We cross a playground and follow the gravel path slightly uphill towards Klosterwappen and Fischerhütte. We bypass the Waxriegel summit counterclockwise and arrive 15 minutes later at Damböckhaus. From here we continue along the gravel road towards Klosterwappen. Accompanied by the ringing of cowbells, at a fork at Ochsenboden we turn left onto the yellow marked hiking trail outlined with wooden posts. Alternatively, one can ascend directly to Fischerhütte straight ahead here.Initially only slightly ascending, the slope gradually increases the closer we get to the summit of Schneeberg. To the right behind the transmission facility is the summit cross at Klosterwappen, the highest point in Lower Austria and the geographical highlight of the Wiener Alpenbogen. Here we look for the first time over the wide west. From the Türnitzer Alps over Ötscher, from Rax over Hochschwab and on beautiful days as far as Dachstein. Only a few minutes separate us from Fischerhütte (open April to October). After this long and demanding mountain hiking day, we look forward to the cozy guest room with food and drink.On the second day, we say a quiet goodbye to the roof of Lower Austria and go left from the hut northwest past Kaiserstein. After a few meters, however, at the Wiener Alpenbogen trail, we turn left towards Edelweißhütte over Schauerstein. The green marked hiking trail initially leads us slightly downhill over a scenic meadow slope to the edge of Schauerstein. We then descend a rocky dwarf pine path to a junction where on the left the Fleischer memorial stone can be seen. Here we turn right towards Edelweißhütte over the Fadenweg. A wonderfully laid out hiking trail leads us through wild forest to a forest road. We turn right and follow the gravel road slightly downhill. Shortly after the Hoyos monument, on clear days at a right curve, we can even see the high-rise buildings of Vienna.After half an hour on the forest road, we turn right onto the yellow marked Fadenweg and walk with hardly noticeable ascent to Edelweißhütte. On the newly built terrace of Edelweißhütte, we enjoy lunch.From Edelweißhütte, we continue on the gravel road towards Almreserlhaus, turn right halfway off the Wiener Alpenbogen path and follow the Regional Route P downhill to Puchberg am Schneeberg. We ascend the Weidenübergang and follow the yellow marked path downhill. The forest path leads us past a scenic bench to a slope, which we briefly follow downhill and soon descend further on forest paths. Past the valley station of the chairlift, we walk downhill along the street and turn left at Gschaiderhof. Past the farm, we shortly after switch right onto a blue marked hiking trail on the left side of the ravine. The path leads back to the street.We walk past the ruins of Losenheim below, cross the Losenheimer Bach and shortly after turn left onto a cart track towards Puchberg. The yellow marked path leads us past a homestead over Sebastianbach to a street where we turn right. We continue along the main road but leave it at a right curve straight onto a narrower street. We follow the street course, turn right towards Puchberg at a transformer station, and here see the red markings of the Burgenland Mariazellerweg. We continue to follow this path to Puchberg.In the Mittering settlement, we turn left at house number 47 onto Größenbergweg. Alternately on farm roads and cart tracks, we walk to a pasture, which we cross keeping right and continue on Römerweg towards the train station. Almost at the end of Römerweg, we turn right into Paradiesweg. In front of Kurhotel Wanzenböck, we switch left into Siebertweg and reach Puchberg train station. To the other side, you can get either to the left via the railway overpass on the federal road or to the right via the narrow crossing at Schneebergbahn.
Parking Parking available at Payerbach train station.
Getting there Coming from Vienna on the A2 / from Graz on the S6, leave the highway at the Gloggnitz exit. Continue on B27 following signs to Payerbach/Reichenau.
Public transport Take the train, for example via Wiener Neustadt, to Payerbach-Reichenau. From the south, regional trains run from Mürzzuschlag to Payerbach/Reichenau. More info at www.oebb.at
Editor’s tip Either very early arrival or overnight stay in Payerbach. Alternatively, the days can be arranged differently, for example overnight at Naturfreundehaus Knofeleben and on the second day the crossing of Schneeberg. The route can also be extended by one day; an overnight stay is also possible at Edelweißhütte. A sunrise and sunset on Schneeberg is not quickly forgotten.

Recommended period

Current weather on site

3° to 11°

Today, 04.03.2026

Light rain shower

Wind speed1,9 km/h

2° to 12°

Tomorrow, 05.03.2026

Mainly clear

Wind speed2,3 km/h

Wiener Alpen in Lower Austria, www.wieneralpen.at, +43 / 2622 / 78960

Tourism information Puchberg am Schneeberg, www.puchberg.at, +43 / 2636 / 2256

www.wieneralpen.at/wanderweg

Letzte Änderung: 25 Feb 2026