Experience the Riesneralm in Donnersbachwald. In summer, the Riesneralm is a family and hiking paradise. If you love nature and peace and quiet, then you’ve come to the right place, far away from the hustle and bustle. There’s also plenty for children to get up to. Haus Erna is an excellent base from which to explore the Riesneralm in Donnersbachwald.
Fun activities for young and old
In this blog, we’re focusing on everything there is to do on the mountain. As you’ll see, many of these activities are family-friendly and appeal to young and old alike. We won’t be covering walks in this blog. For walks on the Riesneralm, please refer to our other blogs. Not all of these walks are suitable for children. Some walks are a bit more challenging and require a bit more physical fitness than others. We’ve provided an estimate of the difficulty level for each walk. This will give you an idea of whether it’s manageable with children. You can find the other blogs here:
– Walking amongst the flowers with stunning views: link
– Panoramic walk across the mountain peaks in Donnersbachwald: link
There are, of course, other walks available too. We haven’t written a blog about every possible walk.
The Riesneralm: a real award winner
A few facts about the Riesneralm:
– Voted one of the “Best Austrian Summer Mountain Railways” (Beste Sommer-Bergbahn Österreichs).
– The TierHOLZpark won the Styrian Tourism Innovation Award (Steirische Toeristische Innovatieprijs).
– The unique mountaintop swimming pool (Gipfelbad anno dazumal) won an Austrian Innovation Award (bronze).
– On 1 February 2020, the world’s largest snowman was built at the Riesneralm in Donnersbachwald. The giant, named Riesi, stood 38.04 metres tall. Read the full story here.
Experience the Riesneralm in Donnersbachwald with children
We’ll start at the Riesneralm valley station. This is where we’ll park our car. The car park is spacious and there’s always space available.
The lift takes us to the middle station. This is where our adventure begins. In summer, the lifts usually operate on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays. To be sure, it’s best to check here.
Mountain cinema
At the Riesneralm’s middle station, you’ll find the Hotel Berghof on your left. When you walk in, the mountain cinema is immediately on your left. Nature videos and documentaries are shown here continuously. Admission is free and you can simply take a seat. The Berghof has a self-service restaurant. If it’s open, you can have a drink here and enjoy the stunning views of the Donnersbach Valley.
Bowling alley and shuffleboard
As we walk out of the mountain cinema, we see a sort of barn on our left. You could easily walk right past it. However, it’s well worth popping inside to have a look. Inside it is stylishly and cosily furnished in a typical Austrian style. Here you’ll find, amongst other things, a bowling alley, a shuffleboard and a few tables for a cosy chat. You can use it completely free of charge. It’s all very ingeniously put together. The bowling pins are operated and the ball is rolled back mechanically by pulling a rope. Very charming and nostalgic.
Herbal trail and wild bee farm
Would you like to learn a bit more about herbs and medicinal plants? Between the two lifts at the middle station, there’s a herbal trail with 14 stops. At each stop, there’s a sign explaining the botanical and medicinal characteristics, as well as practical tips for use.
In Donnersbachwald and the surrounding area, you can buy honey at various locations. Be sure to try it – it’s particularly delicious. As part of an educational project, the kindergarten children, together with a few volunteers, have built a wild bee farm near the Krispenbahn reservoir. Do pop in and discover the biodiversity of this habitat yourself.
Story corner
Every mountain has its own history and stories. To the left of the lift at the middle station, there are four signs telling stories about the Riesneralm. Take a moment to have a look, let the stories sink in and enjoy them.
Schattenjacht
Krispini, the mountain spirit, has lost the code to his treasure chest. Help Krispini find the code; once you have it, you can open the treasure chest and receive a reward. The code is hidden in nine places between the middle station and the Hochsitz. Of course, you won’t get the code for free. You’ll have to do something first: solve a riddle, play a game, and so on. Tip: ask for the treasure map at the valley station before you take the lift up.
Hunting trail to the Hochsitz
There are several ways to get from the middle station to the Hochsitz. You can either take the chairlift, follow the ski run (Krispenleit’n), or take the hunting trail. Both the ski run and the hunting trail are well worth exploring. However, you can only go up via one route. That gives you a good excuse to come back to the Riesneralm and take the other route next time.
The route via the hunting trail is described in our blog: “Walking amongst the flowers with stunning views” and can be found here. On this walk, you’ll pass four hunting huts. This is a fine example of how the management of the Riesneralm succeeds in making multifunctional use of the mountain. These huts are used by hunters, nature lovers – who can enjoy wonderful views from here – and tourists, who can rest here or have a picnic.
Hochseesitz
The Hochseesitz is a mini adventure park for children. But adults can have fun there too. Among other things, you can go rafting, climb a simulated rock face, try walking across a tightrope, and ‘fish for wooden fish’ in the lake. On summer days, you can even sometimes spot swimmers in the little lake. The Hochseesitz is about a 5-minute walk from the Hochsitz, the top station of the Riesneralm. Definitely worth a visit.
Wooden Animal Park
A zoo on top of the mountain? Not a real zoo, of course. On top of the mountain there are a number of animals made of wood. They are 3 to 4 metres tall. Children can climb inside them, and they usually feature some sort of play equipment, such as a slide or a climbing net. Next to the wooden animals are photo books containing interesting facts about the animals and a sort of quiz. This way, fun is combined with learning. Let the beast go and experience the Riesneralm in Donnersbachwald in a surprising way.
Swimming pool at the top of the mountain
Believe it or not, there’s a heated swimming pool at the top of the Riesneralm. Swimming in an infinity pool with a 360° view from the top of a mountain is a unique experience. The pool measures 4 metres by 8 metres and is 1.3 metres deep. It is heated to 26°. The glass walls surrounding the pool offer shelter from the mountain wind. Changing rooms and showers are available.
Use of the swimming pool is free of charge, but swimwear is compulsory. You can find more information here.
The construction is based on a swimming pool from the 1930s that was located in Donnersbachwald. Have fun.
Barefoot trail
Do you want to really feel the mountain? The barefoot trail offers you the chance to experience the mountain in a different way. Pine cones, wood chips, bark mulch, mud and potholes, granite slabs, steep scree slopes, wood in all its forms, or the natural alpine terrain – everything is incorporated into the trail.
The trail runs from the HochSEEsitz in gentle stretches, with a total of 19 stations, straight to the summit of the Riesner-Krispen at 1,922 m.
The management of the Riesneralm in Donnersbachwald is highly innovative. With the limited resources at their disposal, they manage to come up with surprising ideas time and again. It’s no wonder they regularly win awards. A big congratulations to them.
Squarechair
Meet and greet at the summit. At the summit of the Riesnerkrispen, at an altitude of 1,922 metres, you can enjoy a cosy get-together with a stunning 360° view of the surrounding mountains. Don’t miss this – and why not bring a picnic?
Lawinengalerij
Art on the mountain. This is yet another innovative and creative idea from the management of the Riesneralm. The structure used in winter to protect against avalanches is converted in summer and used to exhibit art. This is unique in the world. There are 10 display cases in which a range of artists are given a platform to exhibit their works of art. Do check it out.
Experience the Riesneralm in Donnersbachwald
That was quite a long blog post. As the title suggests: ‘Experience the Riesneralm in Donnersbachwald’ is definitely something you should do. Set aside plenty of time for it, or spread it over several visits. It’s amazing just how much there is to do here. It’s unbelievable that it’s still so peaceful here. It’s a blessing that this gem hasn’t yet been discovered by mass tourism.
