Tag: day hike

Urban Hiking in Salzburg Austria

  Location: Gaisberg Mountain, Salzburg, Austria
Duration: 1 day

Distance: Up and down (ok, around 5 miles)

   
 For me, Salzburg Austria is quintessentially Europe. There is the old hilltop fortification jutting into the skyline; the old city quarter with cathedrals and squares; a strong dark river dividing the old and new; lots of people bicycling and strolling with purpose, all ringed by imposing mountains. Public transportation is good enough, with trains and buses at your disposal, though if staying close to the city heart it is best to just grab your umbrella and take an urban hike. It is an enchanting location that beacons you to relax a bit, maybe sit along the riverside or hike a mountain just to see the views; it is filled with cafes and restaurants that entice you with ice cream treats and dense German fare. In short it is the perfect place to visit and stay for a while.

  To this girl who spends most of her days in the wide-open South Dakota prairie, it was a titillating delight to be surrounded by mountains in all directions. Locals know each by name and are happy to point them out and describe the charms each offers. Depending on your pleasure there is one within easy access that is waiting for you. We managed to do some hiking, gondola rides, and summer tobogganing; and felt we barely got a taste of what the mountains have waiting. Now there is impressive wilderness stretches in Austria- with glaciers, mountain lakes, meadows and imposing mountaineering- The National Park Hohe Tauern- unfortunately this region will have to wait for a different visit. I spent my time in and around the city of Salzburg and had my fill of the delights of climbing a mountain to find a beer garden waiting at the top. Not a bad reward.

  Now I employ the term mountain loosely here- as most people would call them hills in Salzburg- but they were imposing enough to make my breath catch when I looked down from the top, so I am going with mountain. But according the “The Sound of Music” (which was filmed here and actually is one of the reasons tourists visit) those hills, they’re alive with… well you know. We had no trouble finding transportation to hiking trails. The day we set aside for a longer hike, we just simply walked out our door and headed in the direction of the mountain we were aiming for- Gaisberg. After about a half hour walking through the city we started to climb and then met up with the dirt path. The nice thing about mountains is if you are hiking up you just head up the trail and when done go the opposite direction. There were many trails but you never had the sense that you could get very lost as there is a well-used road that runs to the top that you could always manage to find if needed. The trails are blazed with a red and white marker which, after being on several trails, I started to suspect really was the marker not so much of the trail but that you were on the right path to the beer at the top! The terrain changed from beautiful old farms, to meadows, to mountain forests; lovely every step of the way. It is difficult to gage the difficulty of the trail as we were led the entire way by my 9 year old son who charge up and then down, and was managed by my aunt; so we had three generations able to enjoy the hike but it in no way was an easy walk in the woods. We had hiking poles that we were glad for as the constant incline, coupled with areas of rock and forest debris, did make you watch your feet more than the views in sections.

  We all happily enjoyed relaxing at the restaurant once we reached the top. You can have the weiner schnitzel and beer guilt free knowing there is the whole second half of the hike still ahead. The views catch your breath as you see the Salzburg panorama while the brightly colored hang-glides take off and float and soar. Good cheerful conversation with friends completes an amazing morning. Revitalized, you get the luxury of making an “urban hiking” choice: save the knees and take the bus down, or extend the hiking pleasure and walk back the way we came. You know what we picked! Down was slow on me but it brought a grin of delight watching my son sliding and skidding down the rocky areas with confident delight. The round trip, door to door, took 8 hours.

  

Sheyenne National Grassland

Sheyenne National Grassland

Portion of the North Country Trail 

  


Loaded up the family (including the 4, 6 and 8 year old as well as the two dogs) and headed 3 hours north up Interstate 29 to the Sheyenne National Grasslands. We got a bit lost as we hadn’t planned out the exact trailhead, instead relying on memory and google maps, but eventually headed down a fun to drive dirt road where we crossed over the trail. The road was a fun off road bonus to the day but would be a mess of mud if it had been a wet spring this year. We ended up parking on the back side of a dirt bike course where we saw several off road vehicles out for some Saturday fun. We didn’t have time to drive further and see what was ahead but I am curious and will have to go further up the road next time. 

  

To get there: Hwy 18 to 27 to County Rd. 4 to 64th St (left)

Difficulty: Easy

Distance: up to you!


I had expected the Sheyenne National Grasslands to be a wide open expanse of prairie grasses with horizon as far as the eye can see. It was a pleasant surprise to see mounds, hills and hollows. The trail snakes around bends, over hills, and through stands of trees; making you excited to see what is just over that ridge or around that next corner. It was early April so the plants were just starting to bud out, there is no doubt the vegetation will be a blossoming blaze of beauty in a month; however, our experience with the region is that you will trade being tick bait to witness that blooming. 

We hopped out of the car and headed down the trail as far as we could manage. We hiked in for an hour and then found a nice flat grassy area to have a picnic. I had packed in a simple loaf of bread, some peanut butter and snack bar goodness. Instead of resting, the kids found a nice sized hill and practiced running down in with gleeful lopsided grins as big as the tongue dangling happiness the dogs exuded while chasing them along. Once we gave everyone a significant drink, (the dogs could easily consume a liter each time they drink) we heading back on the trail. The trail is very well worn, with two grooves about the size of an ATV, it does intersect with several other trails and dirt roads but it is also ridiculously well marked; you can often see the next trail marker while standing at the current one. There are also mile markers we were hiking around mile markers 22-24. We yo-yoed nearly 5 miles spending 4 hours total including frequent kid breaks and our picnic. This was the first hike that our 4 year old had to hoof it the whole way as she out grew her kid carry pack. She whined a bit and passed out as soon as she got in the car at the end, but she made it!

   

   


It was a nice easy trail with a decent variety of scenery and terrain to keep everyone entertained. There was a broken down windmill fairly early on, as well as a water pond that must be the new well as it had solar panels. This could easily be a watering hole if you needed a fill though it would need to be treated. With a little planning you could hit a dirt road and make a loop out of it. I look forward to heading back to this trail and exploring more sections in the future and I think this could easily be a great weekend camp option. I believe it is a camp at large park but will need to do some research. Dogs are allowed off leash and ours had a blast.