Lockenhaus - Margarethenwarte (through Marchgraben)

Access to starting point:
Highway Graz - Vienna Wien we leave at the Lafnitztal exit, and then we drive on Burgenland Straße road. In the town of Oberwart, we follow the signs for Železno / Eisenstadt, leaving Burgenland Straße road at the exit for Rechnitz and Lockenhaus. When we arrive in the town of Lockenhaus, we turn right toward the settlement of Rechnitz, and then we park in one of the parking lots in the center of Lockenhaus.

Path description:
From the starting point, we head to the road Geschriebensteinstraße, where we initially walk on the sidewalk, bypassing the church and monastery on the right side. A little further, at the last houses, the sidewalk ends, and we continue along the main road to the left hairpin turn. At the start of the hairpin, signs for the peak Geschriebenstein and the tower Margarethenwarte direct us straight onto the forest road, along which we continue.
A few minutes further, the road splits, and we choose the slightly left road, marked with signs for the lookout tower Margarethenwarte (slightly right for Geschriebenstein). We continue on a poorer road, which, a little further at the left hairpin, splits again, and we take a sharp left; at the next crossroads, we go slightly right toward the lookout tower Margarethenwarte (straight for Birkenbankerl, Paulusbrunnen, and Marchgrabenloipe), then moderately ascend through the forest, and a few minutes higher, a path from the previously mentioned points joins from the left. Here, we turn right, then follow the "main" path through several successive crossroads, which leads us to a wider asphalt road that we carefully cross. On the other side of the road, we reach a macadam parking lot, where we gently descend to the left, then continue an easy descent to the lookout tower a few minutes away.
Description and pictures refer to the condition in January 2025.