WAB - Regional Route J: Payerbach - Waldburganger hut - Knofeleben

Description

This hike leads on forest and alpine paths from the station in the historic summer resort town of Payerbach via the Waldburganger hut to Knofeleben. The Jubilee viewpoint offers an unexpected but incredible view of the Semmering Railway World Heritage site with the striking viaduct in Payerbach. The Waldburganger hut offers a perfect place for a break before continuing over the Bodenwiese. The path here runs through a wonderful alpine landscape in a gentle terrain basin, a harmonious alpine idyll in perfection! After a short section in the forest, the route ends at the brightest hut in the Alps at Knofeleben. The Naturfreundehaus Knofeleben also reached 1st place among the "huts accessible by hiking" in the 2014 hut choice.

Starting point of the tour

Payerbach station

Destination point of the tour

Naturfreundehaus Knofeleben

Route description WAB - Regional Route J: Payerbach - Waldburganger hut - Knofeleben

The Regional Route J starts very leisurely at the Payerbach-Reichenau train station in the summer resort town. Interesting to see at the station are the old advertising posters that tried to entice the population to the summer resort of Payerbach and Reichenau.

We cross the large parking lot and follow a narrow asphalt path westwards. For a few meters, the path goes downhill, we walk right through the underpass and follow the street uphill. After two hairpin turns, a blue-marked hiking trail branches off to the left into the forest, which we ascend and continue along keeping to the right. We cross a service road, follow the hiking trail and again meet the service road. We leave the Hochberger farm on the right and then switch to the blue-marked hiking trail. Now it goes partly steeply uphill, a short section of the path is secured with a chain. The effort of the ascent seems to be swept away by the view at the Jubilee viewpoint, which is reachable via a small detour and is not directly on the hiking trail. Signposts provide timely information about the view. Returning to the hiking trail, we follow the footpath uphill, cross a forest road, and continue to climb on the blue-marked path. The path leads to a forest road, we keep right and after a few meters turn left to the Waldburganger hut, which is reached after a few meters of ascent. The hut, well known for its Schöberl pastries, is open on Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays from May to October. After a short rest at the hut, we walk on the gravel road to the Bodenwiese, a wonderful alpine meadow landscape. Here we have the opportunity to visit the keeper Gabi and continue our way after food and drink. However, the hiking trail branches off a little before the keeper's hut from the gravel road onto a meadow path. We climb over a pasture fence and soon reach a gravel road again, which we follow left into the forest. About 15 minutes later, we turn right at a crossroads towards the Lackaboden hut and at the next fork take the left path. Also on the left, five minutes later, we turn to the Lackaboden hut, where we reach the back side and walk left around the hut. The path leads slightly downhill to a forest road where we now turn right. This forest road is the one that takes us directly to the Naturfreundehaus Knofeleben. The "brightest hut in the Alps" landed first place among the huts accessible by hiking in 2014 and invites you to stop for food and overnight stays. The Regional Route J ends at this hut.

Here you can either spend a cozy night or continue hiking on the Wiener Alpenbogen; Krummbachstein and Schneeberg are the next stations of the long-distance hiking trail. Alternatively, you can also hike down the Wiener Alpenbogen to Kaiserbrunn in the Höllental and even follow the water pipe path back to Payerbach. This path is also part of the hiking trail on the Wiener Alpenbogen.