Alpl (Waldschulle Alpl) - Steinriegel

Access to starting point:
Highway A2 Graz - Vienna we leave at the exit for Gleisdorf west, then follow the signs for Hartberg and Weiz, and later only Weiz. At the beginning of the town Weiz, we exit the roundabout in the direction of the settlement Birkfeld, then follow the road to the mentioned settlement and from there follow the signs for Alpl. When we arrive at Alpl, we turn left before the bridge near the Alpl ski slope in the direction of the Waldschulle Peter Rosegger forest school. Next follows a slight descent, and we park in a parking lot slightly below the school, which is now a museum.
From the border crossing Šentilj, we continue driving on the highway towards Graz and further towards Linz and Salzburg. We soon leave highway A9 and continue driving slightly right in the direction of Vienna, proceeding along the expressway S35. Near the settlement Bruck an der Mur, we reach highway S16 and follow it in the direction of Vienna. We leave the mentioned highway at the exit for Mitterdorf, and upon reaching the roundabout with the old road, we take the first exit in the direction of Vienna. After the settlement Krieglach, we turn right towards the settlements Birkfeld and Alpl. When we arrive at Alpl, we turn right in the direction of the Waldschulle Peter Rosegger forest school. Next follows a slight descent, and we park in a parking lot slightly below the school, which is now a museum.

Path description:
From the parking lot, we walk to Waldschulle, before the forest school we go right on a grassy cart track which ascends in or by a lane of forest. When we leave the forest, on the left side we bypass the farm Großheidenbauer, and behind it we reach a narrower asphalt road, on which we continue to the wider main road.
We carefully cross the main road and follow the marked path towards Pretul. The path continues in a moderate ascent through the forest, where at several crossings we follow the blazes; when we reach a higher, indistinct ridge, we also join the path that starts at the mountain pass Alpl.
We continue slightly left in the direction of Jägerhöhe and Hauereck.
A few more minutes of walking follow, and we reach the crossing at Jägerhöhe, from where we continue slightly left (to the right is the guesthouse Roseggerhof) and follow the signs for the cross Rotes Kreuz and the mountain hut Hauereck. A little further, we temporarily leave the forest, where the path leads us through high grass, which is often wet after rain or in the morning dew. When we re-enter the forest, a few minutes of easy walking follow, and we arrive at the cross Rotes Kreuz, where the next marked crossing is located.
We continue to follow the signs for Hauereck, and when we leave the forest, we descend to a rough road, which we follow to the right, continuing straight at a smaller crossroad. A little further, we temporarily leave the road, turning slightly right onto a footpath, and after a few minutes, we return to the road, which we follow all the way to the mountain hut Hauereck.
We bypass the cottage on the left side, from the crossing we go slightly right onto a cart track, along which there are signs for Pretulalpe and Stuhleck. The path ahead also crosses a grazing fence, then ascends more steeply to the area of wind turbines, where we step onto a macadam road. Also on the road we continue ascending, and from the path, a view opens up slightly toward the Northern Limestone Alps. When the road flattens on the left, just a short distance from the path, we notice the cottage Holta-Hütte, situated on the spacious mountain pasture Rattner Alm.
Mountain hut Holta-Hütte we bypass on the right side and continue walking on the macadam road, which then ascends through the grazing areas of mountain pasture Rattner Alm. A few minutes higher, we cross a grazing fence, then go slightly left from the crossroad. Higher up, the path leads us through a strip of sparse forest, and then we reach the wind power plant located near the summit of Steinriegel.
Here, we turn slightly right and ascend in a few steps to the cross on the panoramic summit.
The starting point - Hauereckhütte 1:45, Hauereckhütte - Holta-Hütte 0:30, Holta-Hütte - Steinriegel 0:25.
The description and pictures refer to the conditions in July and September 2024.

On the way: Jägerhöhe (1220m), Rotes Kreuz (1275m), Hauereckhütte (1301m), Holta-Hütte (Rattner Alm) (1439m)