Höss Alpine Circular Trail (Circular Hiking World Hinterstoder)

Two viewing platforms with a view of a breathtaking 360° mountain panorama and up to 2,000 metres above sea level - that's the Höss Alpine Tour of the RundWanderWelt Hinterstoder.

You can be sure that the man who lost his dagger on the Schafkögeln in the Bronze Age (around 1,000 BC) was not travelling for pleasure. The loss of the small dagger, which was found here in 1903 - incidentally the oldest artefact found in our municipality and exhibited in the Alpineum - was certainly a dramatic event at the time, as iron and iron tools had the value of gold.

You can get to the starting point of the tour with the mountain cable car and chair lift.

From the starting point at the mountain station of the Höss-Express 6-seater chairlift, we follow the Höss circuit as far as the Schneeofen, where the Höss Alpine circuit soon branches off to the south, towards Schafkögel. Even if you can't get enough of the gigantic backdrop, which offers ever new views and insights into the surrounding mountains as the altitude increases, it is also a special treat to close your eyes and breathe in the aromatic mixture of mountain herbs, resinous mountain pines and alpine flowers and listen to the exuberant chirping of the birds, which are carried by the updraught flowing up from the Weißenbachtal valley. The "Klock-Klock" of the jackdaws sounds like a knock, makes you look up again and, if you're lucky, you can watch the eagle circling majestically.

A brief insight into geology is also of interest from the Schafkögel. Two types of limestone give the Totes Gebirge its imposing appearance and are decisive for the different rock formations and landscapes of this area:

The dolomite:
The main or ramson dolomite forms the base of the mountain giants around Hinterstoder. This splintery rock, interspersed with gullies, gullies and scree, can be easily recognised here on the northern slopes of the Weißenbachtal valley, on the western edge of the terrain.

Dachstein limestone:
The pure, light-coloured limestone dominates the plateaus and summit structures of the Totes Gebirge. Well recognisable here on the Warscheneck in the east with its typical benching. Layer upon layer of rock seems to be laid on top of each other.

At the highest point of the tour - at the 1,980 metre high Schafkögel - is the panorama platform "Atmosphere and Climate Change", which explains all the mountain peaks visible at this point and also provides an insight into the connections between the atmosphere and climate change. The trail meanders along the western edge of the terrain with the steep drop-offs to the Weißenbachtal valley back down into the valley to join the Höss circuit after 200 metres in altitude, above the "Dachsteinblick" panorama platform.