Koglereck - Großer Speikkogel (Koralpe)

Access to starting point:
First, we drive to Dravograd, and then we continue driving towards Austria. We then drive across the border crossing Vič, following the main road to the beginning of the settlement Labot / Lavamünd, where signs for Gradec / Graz and Ivnik / Eibiswald direct us to the right onto an ascending road. We then follow the nicely maintained and wide Alpine road to the mountain pass Soboški prelaz / Koglereck (also Soboth), where we turn left towards the settlement Ettendorf. Immediately after the intersection, we will notice on the left side a larger macadam parking lot, where we leave the car.

Path description:
From the parking lot, we continue a few more meters along the road, then signposts direct us right into the forest. At first, we ascend along a wide path through the forest, which brings us to a smaller clearing, from where a view towards the summit Großer Speikkogel opens up. A shorter descent follows, which brings us to an intersection of mountain roads. We continue straight along a narrow road through the forest. Later we join a wider macadam road, along which we then walk for quite some time. The fairly level road ascends slightly for most of the time, occasionally descending slightly as well. The road then brings us out of the forest and is followed by some more walking along the mountain pasture to a marked junction.
To the right, the road leads to the hut Stiftshütte (5 min), while we continue along the road to the next junction, which is only a few dozen meters ahead. At the junction, we can continue right following the signs »Koralpe, Jauksattel« along the path that bypasses the peak Kleinalpl on the right side. The second option, which is slightly shorter, is to continue straight along the road past the barrier and then past the hunting hut Brandl. In the initial section, the road will have two junctions and at both we continue right. The mountain road then turns left and for a long time mostly in a gentle ascent crosses the slope on the west side of the peak Kleinalp towards the north. We follow the mountain road all the way to the marked junction at the saddle Jauksattel, where the path that bypasses the peak Kleinalpl on the right eastern side also joins us.
At the marked junction we continue left following the signs Koralpe (path no. 650). We walk along the mountain road for some time longer, then reach another marked junction. Here we leave the macadam road and head onto grassy slopes following the signs Gr. Speikkogel. The grassy cart track initially leads us up the slope, then turns left and runs through the forest for a short time. Along the path, we will notice interesting boulders, which are characteristic of this area. The cart track then crosses a fence and brings us to expansive pastures.
Here we continue along the footpath, which begins to ascend more steeply up the slope. The path then crosses a mountain stream and soon after that a high-voltage power line. Further on, the path ascends continuously up panoramic grassy slopes, crossing grazing fences several times in the process. Later, the path turns left and a view opens up to the radars on the summit, which have helped us with orientation the whole time. Soon a view opens up to the west side and the path brings us to a marked junction. We continue straight following the signs »Gr. Speikkogel 15 min« and begin to ascend the grassy slope towards the ridge on the right side of the peak. On the ridge we continue left and only a short ascent to the summit follows.

Trip can be extended to: Seespitz (Koralpe)