Hirschegg - Saureishütte

Access to starting point:
a) We leave the A2 highway Celovec / Klagenfurt - Graz at the Packsattel exit, then follow the signs for Gradec and Pack. At the settlement Stampf we leave the old road towards Graz and continue driving in the direction of the village Hirschegg, where we park in the marked parking area beside the main road.
b) We leave the A2 highway Graz - Celovec / Klagenfurt at the Modriach exit, then follow the signs for Packer Stausee lake and the village Hirschegg, where we park in the marked parking area beside the main road.

Path description:
At the end of the parking lot, we turn left and cross the Teigitsch river over a bridge, then ascend to the nearby church, where we turn right. We continue following the signs for guesthouse Pongratzwirt, mountain hut Saureishütte and the peak Seinerkreuz, walking along trail no. 540. The compact part of the settlement soon ends and the path ahead leads us along an ascending asphalt road which the marked trail crosses several times; we follow the blazes and signs for Pongratzwirt. In the final section of the ascent to guesthouse Pongratzwirt, we climb over a panoramic pasture, then pass mountain direction signposts and arrive at the aforementioned guesthouse.
At the inn we turn slightly right, following the signs for the chapel of St. Bartolomej and the mountain hut Saureishütte as well as several other destinations. The path first leads between two older buildings, then we ascend some stairs back to the road, which we follow only for a short distance. Here, behind the last house in this section, we turn left onto a cart track that enters the forest and soon turns into a proper mountain path. Higher up, just at a small fork, we reach a forest road. We continue slightly right and proceed gently along the right side of a pasture. At junctions we follow the poorer road in the direction of the blazes. A few minutes farther on, the blazes lead us onto a wider forest path. We at first ascend through the forest, and higher up we walk for a short section along the edge of another pasture. Above the mentioned pasture we bypass a mountain holiday cottage on our left and continue following the blazes, which soon bring us to a wider gravel road. We follow this road left for about ten steps, then turn right onto a footpath that climbs through sparse forest. Higher up we cross a few more roads or cart tracks, and then, near the chapel of St. Bartolomej, we arrive at a marked junction.
Here we notice the chapel to the right and slightly back (the turn-off to it is already about a minute lower down), while we continue left along the road (across the road to Seinerkreuz), which a little further ahead returns into the forest. From the crossroads in the forest we continue straight ahead (the right-hand road allows us to return to the marked path that leads towards the summit of Seinerkreuz) and then follow the road in a gentle ascent all the way to the mountain hut Saureishütte.
The starting point - Pongratzwirt 0:50, Pongratzwirt - St. Bartolomej 1:10 - St. Bartolomej - Saureishütte 0:20.
The description and pictures (except the last one, which is from 2023) refer to the conditions in September 2025.

On the way: Pongratzwirt (1177m), St. Bartholomä (Hirschegg Rein) (1585m)