Miners' path

Description:

At the beginning, a small display room provides insights into the 50-year history of the former coal mining. The newly constructed tunnel lining at the mouth of the “Klausriedlstollen” and 22 display panels along this miners' path show the economic importance of mining, the living and working conditions, and the social circumstances of the miners and their families.

Hiking trail: E47

Directions:

From Restaurant RAU, walk about 200 m on the road towards Großraming, then turn left and climb towards the Kohlgraben saddle below the Rabenreithkogel. This way you reach not only numerous sinkholes (funnel-shaped depressions caused by the collapse of the Rainer, Klausriedl, Barbara, Franz, and Ignaz tunnels), but also the site of a coal washing plant and a miners' house, spoil heaps with sterile rock, a prospecting attempt from the post-World War II period, and a pond whose cool water has seeped away forever due to underground activities.

You will learn a lot about the area's geology, land ownership, where the tunnel names came from, the mining patron saint Barbara, or the farm whose produce fed the miners.

Beautiful orchards round off the hiking pleasure, and at the end, nature presents a geological climax: the moss-covered granite cliffs of the Buch Monument, named after the geologist Leopold von Buch (1774-1853), lie like stone cuckoo eggs in the limestone of the Northern Alps. Why? Presumably, they were torn from underground during the Alpine orogeny.

The shorter route option leads north of the Kohlgraben downhill again; the longer one follows marker No. 6 into the saddle between Höhenberg and Arthofberg, then turns left towards Buchschachen or Waldbauer and also includes the remarkable fuchsia exhibition by the Schwarzlmüller family.

Tip:
Buch Monument: The moss-covered granite cliffs, named after the geologist Leopold von Buch (1774-1853), lie like stone cuckoo eggs in the limestone of the Northern Alps. Why? Presumably, they were torn from underground during the Alpine orogeny.