Circular route 5 - chapels & wayside shrines Vöcklamarkt

On the circular hiking trails 4 - 7, you will find a short description and explanation at all chapels, wayside shrines and crossroads.
The first highlight of these hikes is the Vöcklamarkt "Maria Himmelfahrt" parish church right at the beginning, which is also known as the "Cathedral of the Vöcklatal" because of its size.

We start our hike at the municipal office in Vöcklamarkt and now follow the markings through the village, leaving it shortly after the GH  "Grüner Baum" turn left into Schroppgasse. Now walk in a southerly direction to Marktwald. Shortly after the subway of the western railway line, we come to a plague chapel. From there, the path climbs moderately steeply into the Marktwald forest.

Once we have left the forest again, we can already see the Baumann Chapel. Now we continue in the direction of Mösendorf. Here we have to cross the busy B1 motorway (be careful!). In Mösendorf, it is worth taking a short detour (approx. 150 metres) to the Mösendorf parish church. There is also an old Roman stone in front of the church, which reminds us that a major Roman road once passed here.

We now hike back to the "Güterweg Mösendorf" junction. We should not miss the short detour (about 150 metres) to the Padinger Chapel. Our hike now takes us through the village settlement area and then further along a field path to the edge of the forest. Here we cross a small rivulet on a narrow footbridge. There we are greeted by the village of Schmidham.

Shortly after this striking point, we reach a fork in the path where a shortcut can be taken via variant 3 (route 6). However, we take V1 (route 4) to the right along a beautiful hiking trail and shortly afterwards come to a small pond where we can relax.

We continue along the slightly ascending path and pass the Binder-Reisinger wayside shrine and the Schmidhamer Wegkeuz. Finally, the path leads us into the large village of Schmidham. On the old Attergau country road, which once ran through the centre of the village, it is worth taking a short detour (approx. 200m) to the left to the Schmidham parish church. Here at the village church, we have to decide whether to continue along route V1 (route 4) to Maulham, Reichenthalheim and Hörading or whether to take the shorter route V2 (route 5), which takes us in the direction of Walchen.

On route V2, we continue from the Schmidham village church in an easterly direction and reach the Attergau Landesstraße (Schmidham bypass) at the end of the village. Where the village road joins the main road, we turn left and walk down the gently sloping footpath to Unterholz or Walchen. At a sharp left-hand bend, we have to cross the road (take care!) to get up to the Walchen village chapel.

We then continue our hike along the village road. We pass the village hall and can already see the next picture post ahead of us, which was once erected on the left next to the Walchen goods road.

Before the road descends a little more steeply, we branch off to the right and arrive in the small village of Hötzing. The path now leads us in a wide arc down to the "Walchner Keller" inn and the B1 main road. This section of the route offers a wonderful view down to the mighty tower of the Vöcklamarkt parish church.

In order to cross the wide B1 safely, we have to take the path on the right-hand side that runs parallel to the main road until we reach the modern traffic lights. We then follow the pavement or footpath to reach the Attergauer Lokalbahn railway station. We then cross the Westbahn railway line via a subway and finally hike back to the starting point of our circular hike.

Restaurants:
Gasthaus "Grüner Baum", +43 7682 6578
Walchner Keller, +43 7682 62982