Waldheimhütte - Zirbitzkogel (via Rothaidenhütte)

Access to starting point:
Leave the Klagenfurt am Wörthersee - Graz motorway at the Bad St. Leonhard im Lavanttal exit, then follow the signs for Zeltweg and Reichenfels. After the village of Reichenfels we reach the state border between Austrian Carinthia / Kärnten and Styria / Steiermark, and a little further on we reach the Obdacher Sattel pass, where we turn left towards the village of St. Anna am Lavantegg. A steeper climb follows to the mentioned village, from where we follow the signs for the Waldheimhütte hut. In the final section we continue on a toll road, the toll is paid at the parking meter at the Waldheimhütte hut (toll in 2025 was 3 eur for a passenger car).

Route description:
From the parking lot we walk past the hut to the marked junction, from where we head onto the path towards the summit of Zirbitzkogel and the Rothaidenhütte hut (slightly left of the path past the Türkenkreuz cross). The path ahead begins to ascend moderately over a grassy slope surrounded by forest and after less than 10 minutes of ascent brings us to a junction where we turn right towards the Rothaidenhütte hut (straight ahead is the usual path to Zirbitzkogel).
We continue along the track and soon reach the next mountain direction signs.
We continue straight (the left path quickly returns to the previously mentioned usual path towards Zirbitzkogel) and continue along a somewhat narrower track which for a longer time traverses slopes to the right, during which we descend a few times and ascend again. Further on the track gradually turns into a mountain path, and we cross several successive streams, after which we begin to ascend more steeply, initially still through forest, and in the final section over a grassy slope which also brings us to the Rothaidenhütte hut.
At the hut we turn right towards the Sabathyhütte hut, and after the hut the path forks.
We continue on the left upper path, marked for Zirbitzkogel and Sabathy (slightly right St. Wolfgang) and ascend transversely over a scenic grassy slope. A few minutes higher we cross a mountain road, then continue ascending transversely to the right, higher up the path levels out and brings us to a ridge where we continue left towards Zirbitzkogel.
The path ahead ascends moderately along a wider, mostly grassy ridge from which increasingly beautiful views of the surrounding mountains open up, initially still towards Zirbitzkogel, but the view of the mentioned summit is gradually obscured by the slope we continue to ascend. Further on at a few smaller junctions we follow the markings, and after a small break the view towards Zirbitzkogel opens again, and a little further we join the access track towards the Zirbitzkogelhütte hut.
We continue along the mentioned track which levels out higher up and from the left the usual path from the Waldheimhütte hut first joins, and a little further the path past Lavantsee lake also joins.
After the junction where the path past Lavantsee lake joins from the left, the track begins to ascend more steeply, and at the last hairpin bend paths leading along the southern ridge of Zirbitzkogel also join from the left.
Here we turn right and ascend transversely to the Zirbitzkogelhütte hut.
Here we turn left and past a stone chapel quickly reach the scenic summit from which the view extends all the way to Slovenian and Italian mountains.
Waldheimhütte - Rothaidenhütte 1:10, Rothaidenhütte - Zirbitzkogelhütte 1:55, Zirbitzkogelhütte - Zirbitzkogel 0:02.
The description and photos refer to the situation in October 2025.

Along the route: Rothaidenhütte (1836m), Zirbitzkogelhütte (2376m)

We recommend: trips from the same starting point, similar trips, panorama, summit register