Weinebene Straße - Handalm

Access to starting point:
A) Through one of the border crossings with Austria (Korensko sedlo, Karawanks Tunnel, Ljubelj mountain pass, Jezerski vrh mountain pass, Pavličev vrh mountain pass), we drive into Austria, and then we continue driving on the highway towards Graz. On the mentioned highway we drive to the settlement Volšperk / Wolfsberg, where we leave the highway, and when we get to the old or regional road we continue driving in the direction of the settlement St. Gertraud. In the settlement St. Gertraud, we notice signs for the Weinebene Alpine mountain pass, which direct us to the right onto an ascending asphalt road. On the mentioned road, we drive approximately 13.5 km, or until a right turn, where a forest road branches off to the left, and near the yellow hiking signposts, there is a parking lot for a few cars.
B) Over the border crossing Holmec or Vič we drive to Austria, and then we continue driving towards the settlement Volšperk / Wolfsberg. From Volšperk we continue on a regional road in the direction of the settlement St. Gertraud. In the settlement St. Gertraud we notice signs for Alpine mountain pass Weinebene, which point us to the right on an ascending asphalt road. On the mentioned road, we drive approximately 13.5 km, or until a right turn, where a forest road branches off to the left, and near the yellow hiking signposts, there is a parking lot for a few cars.
C) First, we drive to Maribor, and then we continue driving on the highway towards the border crossing Šentilj and ahead on Austrian highway towards Gradec / Graz. We leave the mentioned highway at exit for settlement Lipnica / Leibnitz. When we leave the highway at the roundabout, we continue in the direction of the settlement Lipnica / Leibnitz and further we drive south from the village Gralla, which is today already some kind of peripheral part of Lipnica. Further, the road leads us past industrial zone, and at the roundabout by store Hofer we continue "straight" on the second exit in the direction of the settlement Lonč / Deutschlandsberg. Further, we for some time drive on the main road, and after the village Graschach we turn right in the direction of the settlement Lonč / Deutschlandsberg. In a roundabout right next to the settlement Lonč / Deutschlandsberg, we continue "straight" in the direction of the alpine mountain pass Weinebene. From here, the road begins to ascend more steeply, and we follow it to the mentioned mountain pass, which we reach after approximately 20 km of driving from the start of the settlement Lonč. From the mountain pass, we continue driving forward and begin descending, descending for approximately 4.5 km, when, at a left turn, we drive right onto a smaller parking lot, where we also notice the Bärofen hiking signposts.

Path description:
From the starting point, we head onto a side road where we parked, marked with signs for Wildbachsattel, Bärofen, and Weinebene, and begin moderately ascending along it. A little further, the road flattens, then moderately ascends again, leading us near the hunting cottage Jagdhaus Straßerhalt, where there is a crossing. Here we turn right (left Jagdhaus Straßerhalt, 1 minute) and after a few dozen steps reach a marked crossing, where we join the path from the Weinebene pass.
Here we turn left (right Weinebene) and continue on the marked path, which, a little further at a cross, is joined by the path from the starting point at the inn Gasthof Pfeifferstocker or the inn Weberwirt. We follow the signs for Wildbachsattel and Bärofen, continuing along the macadam road, which mostly runs through the forest, with a shorter section crossing a scenic slope, offering a beautiful view of the highest peaks in the Lavanttal Alps and the nearby partly forested Bärofen. A little further, at a smaller crossroad, we go slightly right and start ascending. From here we continue on the road for a short time, then turn right into the forest onto a marked footpath in the direction of Wolfstein. After about two minutes of walking through the forest, we arrive at Wolfstein.
A little further, we leave the forest and walk to the marked crossing on the Wildbachsattel saddle, where we turn right toward the Weinebene mountain pass. Before the path enters the forest, it splits once again, and we continue in the same direction (left Osterwitz). Next follows an ascent through a strip of forest, and when the forest ends, we ascend alongside a wire fence. Higher up, we reach informative and warning signs indicating that we are entering the area of the wind farm Windpark Handalm.
Before reaching the wind farm, we notice on the right a small hill with a cairn and a small cross, standing on the indistinct summit of Weberkogel.
We continue along the grazing fence, lightly descending with beautiful views towards the nearby Golica / Koralpe, and in good visibility, the view extends all the way to the Julian Alps. When we start ascending again, we reach the first wind turbines, and we follow the marked path for a few minutes. When the marked path begins to veer slightly to the right from the indistinct ridge, we leave it and continue on easier pathless terrain to the highest point of the Handalm peak.
The starting point - Jagdhaus Straßerhalt 0:15, Jagdhaus Straßerhalt - Wolfstein stone 0:35, Wolfstein stone - Wildbachsattel 0:05, Wildbachsattel - Weberkogel 0:35, Weberkogel - Handalm 0:35.
Description and pictures refer to the condition in November and December 2023 and February 2025.

On the way: Jagdhaus Straßerhalt (1522m), Wolfstein am Wildbachsattel (1611m), Wildbachsattel (1605m), Weberkogel (1805m)