Bike & Hike Schafkögel

Bike & Hike Schafkögel: a breathtaking panoramic tour!
On the Höss Panoramastraße, you first have to pedal hard and, like the racing pros of the Upper Austrian Tour, drive approx. 800 meters in altitude and 10km up to the Hutterer Höss.
The hike from the Huttererböden changing point to the Schafkögel is peppered with breathtaking views.

BIKE: compete with the cycling pros!
Strong calves are required for this bike tour (with (e-)mountain bike, racing bike or gravel bike), as it leads from the large cable car car park in Hinterstoder via the approx. 10 km long Höss Panoramastraße to the Hutterer Höss (1,827 m).
Since 2021, the Hutterer Höss has been the target stage of the Upper Austrian tour, so this is where the racing bike pros compete again over the last few kilometers and are rewarded with a magnificent panorama of the Hutterer Höss skiing and hiking area. The changing point Huttererböden is located near the former Dachsalm. Please park your bike here, as there is a driving ban on the Hutterer Boden!

Alternatively, after the hike, you can take the MTB3 to the Edtbauernalm, to the Rottal (pushing route for inexperienced cyclists!!) and to the Steyrsbergerreith (unique panorama!). From here it goes downhill past the Schafferteich and along the winter hiking trail with a few climbs and descents back to Hinterstoder.
Please note that the entire MTB3 route from Hinterstoder is approx. 30km long and has approx. 1,000m of altitude difference!

HIKE:
A viewing platform with a view of a breathtaking 360° mountain panorama at almost 2,000 meters above sea level - that's what you'll experience on this hike.From the Huttererböden changing point, you walk past the Höss-Express 6-seater chairlift on hiking trail 217 in the direction of Berggasthof Höss. Even if you can't get enough of the gigantic scenery, which always offers new views and insights into the surrounding mountains as the altitude increases, it is also a special pleasure to close your eyes and smell the aromatic mixture of mountain herbs, to breathe in resinous mountain pines and alpine flowers and to listen to the high-spirited chirping of the birds, which are carried by the updraft that flows up from the Weißenbachtal. The "knock-knock" of the jackdaws sounds like knocking, makes you look up again and, if you're lucky, you can watch the eagle circling majestically.

A brief insight into the geology from the Schafkögel is also of interest. Two types of limestone give the Dead Mountains their imposing appearance and are decisive for the different rock formations and landscape forms in this area:

The Dolomite:
The main or Ramsau Dolomite forms the base of the mountain giants around Hinterstoder. This splintered rock interspersed with gullies, gullies and boulders can be clearly seen here on the northern slopes of the Weißenbachtal, on the western edge of the terrain.

The Dachstein Limestone:
The pure light lime dominates the plateaus and summit structures of the Dead Mountains. Here clearly recognizable at the Warscheneck in the east with its typical banks. The rock appears layered upon layer.

At the highest point of the tour - at the 1,980 meter high Schafkögel - is the "Atmosphere and Climate Change" panorama platform, which explains all the mountain peaks visible at this point on the one hand and provides an insight into the connections between the atmosphere and climate change on the other. The path meanders along the western edge of the terrain with the steep drops to the Weißenbachtal valley again, to end after 200 meters above the panorama platform "Dachsteinblick" in the Höss circuit.