Preiner Gscheid - Ottohaus (Rax) (Seeweg)

Access to starting point:
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 to the right towards Vienna/Wien, proceeding on the fast road S35. From this highway, we then merge onto Highway S6, still following the signs for Vienna. We leave the highway at the Mürzzuschlag-West exit, then follow the road to the city center, from where we follow signs for the settlement Neuberg an der Mürz. Before we reach the mentioned settlement, we turn right in the settlement Kapellen toward the mountain pass Preiner Gscheid. When we arrive at the mentioned mountain pass, we park in a larger paid parking lot. Parking fee in June 2025 was 4 euros for 24 hours.

Route description:
From the parking lot, we head north, following the signs for mountain huts Waxriegelhaus, Neue Hüttee, and Karl Ludwighaus. The path initially follows a macadam road, then continues on a footpath mostly through the forest, occasionally crossing the macadam road.
Higher up, the path splits, and we continue straight (to the right, the road passes the spring Helenenquelle). A little further, we cross the road again, then turn right and begin ascending through an increasingly sparse forest, soon reaching the grassy slopes of the mountain pasture Gflöz Alm, where the path splits again behind a large rock.
In the direction straight across the macadam road, the path continues towards the hut Ludwighaus, but we turn right towards the hut Waxriegelhaus and continue walking on the macadam road, which crosses a torrent bed. After the torrent bed, we turn left onto a footpath, along which we diagonally ascend to the hut Waxriegelhaus.
We bypass the hut on the lower right side, then turn left towards Neue Seehütte, following the Göbl-Kühn-Steig path. First we cross a pasture fence, after which the path initially descends slightly. Next comes a traverse to the right. The path leads us past several junctions, but we continue straight ahead or slightly left, still towards Neue Seehütte.
Further on, the path gradually becomes steeper, and the slope we are mostly traversing diagonally to the right also gets steeper. Higher up, the forest is gradually replaced by dwarf pine. With fine views, we also cross several wider grassy gullies. When the slope flattens out, a short descent follows and we reach a small valley where Neue Seehütte is situated.
We continue between the hut and the auxiliary building and quickly walk to the marked junction on Königsshutssattel, where we turn right towards Preiner Wand and Ottohaus (left leads to Karl-Ludwig-Haus). The next section involves a moderate ascent along a wide path, which in a few minutes brings us to a spot where a path branches off slightly to the right, leading down into the valley at the foot of the Preiner Wand walls; from there several climbing routes branch off towards the summit, but we continue slightly left and soon reach the next marked junction, from where we follow the signs for Ottohaus via the Seeweg path (right leads to Preiner Wand and Ottohaus over the aforementioned summit).
The path ahead follows a poorer supply road, where we moderately ascend or descend a few times while walking through plateau-like terrain surrounded by dwarf pines. Later, a few other coniferous trees join the dwarf pines, and we follow the wide path all the way to Ottohaus, from where a beautiful view opens up.
Starting point – Waxriegelhaus 0:45, Waxriegelhaus – Neue Seehütte 1:30, Neue Seehütte – Ottohaus 1:10.
The description refers to conditions in June 2025; the photos are from July 2024 and June 2025.

Along the route: Waxriegelhaus (1361m), Neue Seehütte (1643m), Königsshutssattel (1654m)

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