Hiking Tour: “Nord-Süd-Weitwanderweg 05 Stage 3: From Altmelon to Ottenschlag”

The North-South-Long-Distance trail (Nord-Süd-Weitwanderweg, also known as the “05”) starts in the north of Austria at Nebelstein and ends in the south of Austria at Eibiswald. The trail is ~500km long, ~18 000m in ascent and the same amount in descent. The trail was initiated by Carl Hermann and officially established on the 25th September 1970. The trail is separated into 3 parts: the northern part from Nebelstein to Plankenstein via the Mühl- & Waldviertel and the Wachau, the middle part from Plankenstein to Trofaiach via the Ötscher, Hochschwab and Eisenerzer Reichenstein, and the southern part from Trofaiach to Eibiswald via the Pack and Koralpe. It normally takes 3 weeks to complete the entire trail.

Nord-Süd-Weitwanderweg 05 – Checkpoints

Altmelon: The stamp can be acquired either at the municipal office (Altmelon 60), or at the Kirchenwirt Lichtenwallner. Schönbach: A stamp can be acquired at the municipal office in Schönbach 6. Bad Traunstein: A stamp can be acquired at the municipal office (Wiegensteinstraße 2, Bad Traunstein). Ottenschlag: A stamp can be acquired either at the municipal office (Oberer Markt 22) or at Gasthof Michael Renner (Unterer Markt 21).

Personal impressions:
Transportation:
As I’ve planned a single day-trip to accomplish this stage, I used my car to drive to Altmelon and parked it there next to the school. I then hiked to Ottenschlag and took the afternoon bus back to Altmelon:

1. Bus 780 from Ottenschlag Oberer Markt (16:33) Zwettl Kampparkplatz (17:00)
2. Bus 736 from Zwettl Kampparkplatz (17:31) Rappottenstein Ortsmitte (17:52)
3. Bus 735 from Rappottenstein Ortsmitte (17:56) Altmelon Ortsmitte (18:25)

Due to the late bus service in Ottenschlag, the tour can be done fairly slow and allows for several breaks.
Please note that the bus service only operates on school days (Mo – Fr)!

The hike:
Due to the fact that the bus services from Ottenschlag is only operating later in the afternoon, I started the hike on a weekday (Monday) in late in the morning (8:15). Doing the stage during the week allows for two important things: (1) the bus from Ottenschlag back to Altmelon is operating only during school days (not on the weekend!), and (2) stamps can be collected at the municipal offices, thus not being dependent on opening hours of restaurants.
I used my car to drive to Altmelon and parked it there on the parking next to the school. If not done in the previous stage, the first stamp can be acquired at the municipal office Altmelon. I had the stamp already from the previous stage so I’ve started directly the tour towards Schönbach.
The entire stage is done mainly on tarmac roads and exposed to sun with some welcomed exceptions of forest roads. In addition, several times the trail uses annoying occupied streets with no sidewalk but fast traffic. All these leads to the fact that this stage will not make it to my favorites.
However, the stage offers two optional highlights as short detours which compensate for the aforementioned characteristics: 1. the Steinerne Rast, a rest area within a nice ensemble of rocks and cliffs and 2. the Wachtstein and Tau which is a viewing platform on top of a huge rock.
The first part from Altmelon towards Schönbach is mainly on silent tarmac roads. However, right after passing the Stieglitzmühle, the trail uses the very occupied L7199 (at least during the week) to Schönbach with no sidewalk but cars are passing by very fast.
Because I’ve started in good time, I reached Schönbach still in the morning, allowing me to get the stamp quick and without consumption at the municipal office. Without any further breaks, I continued the tour heading towards Bad Traunstein. This part again uses a good mixture of tarmac roads (low on traffic) and forest roads till reaching again the main road L78, occupied and with no sidewalk. This time however the road is only used for a short distance and right after leaving the road, the first highlight is waiting: the Steinerne Rast. This rest place is not directly on the 05, but the short detour is absolutely worth it. I did a bit of bouldering and enjoyed a break before heading back to the trail and continue the hike to Bad Traunstein which is close-by.
After a few meters, just after entering the village of Bad Traunstein, I followed the signposts to do the second worth detour, up to the viewing platform of Wachtstein which is exactly above the village of Bad Traunstein (Checkpoint).
Again, because I started the tour in good time, I was able to get my second stamp at the municipal office in Bad Traunstein before they close at noon.
The next setback was the fact that there was no restaurant open on Monday in the entire village of Bad Traunstein. Luckily there is a small grocery store which also closes at noon but I made it right in time to buy a sandwich. On the way through Bad Traunstein I found at least one restaurant (Gasthaus zum Wachtstein) that did not serve food but offered at least a cold beer, which was very welcomed due to the hot temperatures and the fact that this stage is very exposed to sun.
After I recovered a bit from heat having one or two cold drinks, I continued the hike – again on tarmac and exposed to sun to and through Walterschlag. Now the trail became better, not anymore on tarmac and finally through the forest. On the way to Ottenschlag, the trail passes by the Weyerteich. The remaining few kilometers to Ottenschlag are again on roads through fields and meadows, exposed to sun but not long anymore.
Due to the fact that I had no lunch in Bad Traunstein, I was trying to get some lunch in Ottenschlag. Again, I quickly was confronted that all restaurants seemed to be closed on Monday but I had luck finding Gasthof Michael Renner open, serving me a delicious Goulash soup and cold beer. I used the opportunity to get my last stamp for this stage before heading to the bus station. As I had to wait for some time (~ 2 hours), I decided to stroll around the city and had some coffee before heading back with the bus to Altmelon.