Mariensee (Biotop) - Hochwechsel (Schindlsteig)

Access to starting point:
We leave Highway A2 Graz - Vienna at the Aspang Markt exit and follow the road to the mentioned settlement. Upon arriving in the town, we follow the signs for Mariensee; at the end of the town we turn left once more towards Mariensee (straight ahead is St. Corona am Wechsel). After approximately 8.5 km of further driving, we reach the centre of the settlement Mariensee, and we continue driving ahead. The settlement soon ends, and we continue along the Großer Pestingbach stream to the marked parking lot, where a composting toilet is located.

Path description:
At the end of the parking lot, we turn sharply left from the asphalt road onto a side road, along which there are signs for the forest road and mountain markings for Hochwechsel and Marienseer Schwaig. We continue along the gravel road, where a few minutes higher the path from the lower starting point joins us. We proceed towards the nearby house at the end of the road, but just before the house we turn slightly right onto a marked footpath that bypasses the house on its right side.
A short diagonal ascent to the right follows, and after crossing a grazing fence we reach a marked junction where the path splits.
We continue along the left path, which has signs for Schindlsteig (the straighter path is less steep) and which gradually begins to climb more steeply, crossing a forest road several times higher up. Higher up, we ascend through a panoramic clearing, and a little further we pass an interesting overhanging rock.
We cross the road several more times ahead; at an altitude of about 1350 m we join the gentler path, and a little further on, at about 1450 m, the path past Marienseer Wasserfall – which had separated from ours right at the very start – also joins us.
A few more minutes of ascent through the forest follow, then after crossing a grazing fence we climb mostly over grassy terrain up to the alpine dairy Marienseer Schwaig.
From here we follow the signs for Hochwechsel, first crossing several grazing fences. An ascent across grazing land follows, and a little further on we cross a poorer forest road. Higher up, the grazing area widens; in places the path becomes less distinct and somewhat harder to follow, but if we carefully follow the markings we stay on the correct route. In the final, increasingly panoramic section of the ascent, the now clearly visible path becomes somewhat steeper again; we follow it to the hut Wetterkoglerhaus am Hochwechsel, just behind which, near the chapel, is the highest point of Hochwechsel.
Starting point – Marienseer Schwaig 1:25, Marienseer Schwaig – Hochwechsel 0:40.
The description and photographs reflect conditions in October 2025.

On the way: Marienseer Schwaig (1478m)