Weinebene - Großer Speikkogel (Koralpe) (via Schäferkreuz)

Access to the starting point:
a) Take one of the border crossings with Austria (Korensko sedlo, Karawanks tunnel, Ljubelj Pass, Jezerski vrh Pass, Pavličev vrh Pass) into Austria and then continue along the so-called southern motorway towards Graz/Graz. Take the motorway to Wolfsberg, where you leave the motorway and then, when you reach the old or regional road, continue driving towards St. Gertraud. In St. Gertraud, you will see signs for the Weinebene Alpine Pass, which will direct you to the right onto an ascending asphalt road. Follow this road for approximately 18 km before reaching the Alpine pass, which is situated at an altitude of 1668 m. Park in the large marked parking lot next to the pass.
b) Drive through the Holmec or Vič border crossing into Austria and then continue to Wolfsberg. From Wolfsberg, follow the regional road towards St. Gertraud. In St. Gertraud, you will see signs for the Weinebene Alpine Pass, which will direct you to the right onto an ascending asphalt road. Follow this road for approximately 18 km before reaching the Alpine pass, which is situated at an altitude of 1668 m. Park in the large marked parking lot next to the pass.
c) First drive to Maribor, then continue along the motorway to Border crossing Šentilj and then along the Austrian motorway to Graz/Graz. Leave the motorway at the exit for Lipnica / Leibnitz. After leaving the motorway at the roundabout, continue in the direction of Lipnitz / Leibnitz and continue south of the village of Gralla, which is now a suburb of Lipnitz. The road continues past an industrial or commercial zone, and at the roundabout by the Hofer store we continue "straight on" to the second exit in the direction of Lonč / Deutschlandsberg. Continue along the main road for a while and then turn right after the village of Graschach in the direction of Lonč / Deutschlandsberg. At the roundabout near Lonč/Deutschlandsberg, continue "straight ahead" towards the Weinebene Alpine Pass. From here on, the road climbs steeply, and we follow it for about 20 km to the aforementioned pass, where we park in a parking lot.

Path description:
From the Weinebene Pass, continue south-west, where, at the Weinebenehaus hut (the Göslerhütte hut is a little further on), the mountain signposts for Gr. Speikkogel (Gr. Speikkogel is the highest peak of the Golice / Koralpe), Jauksattel / Kleinalp, Grillitschhütte, Großhöllerhütte and Koralpenhaus direct you to a winding dirt road that climbs over a gentle grassy slope. The marked path that continues along the road soon crosses a grazing fence, which after a few minutes leads to a small pass, from which we have a beautiful view of the highest peak of Golica and the peaks north to north-east of the summit. When the road starts to descend, a parallel marked mountain path branches off slightly to the right and continues across the vast pastures. When the path stops descending, it ascends gently and returns to the road, which has been closed to public traffic from the outset. The road then climbs gently to moderately on the south-eastern slopes of the Brandhöhe (1886 m (the Brandhöhe is the peak located above the lifts of the Weinebene ski resort)) and, a little further on, the Moschkogel (1916 m). Once on the slopes of the latter peak, the road descends steeply towards the saddle to the south of the summit.
At the saddle, where there is a marked crossroads, we arrive from the Austrian Styria / Steiermark to the Austrian Carinthia / Kärnten, and we continue slightly to the right on the cart track, which crosses the slopes to the right (the track is not marked for a short time, as the marked path leads right to the nearby hut Grillitschhütte and from there back to the track, the path straight along the fence continues to the top of Großer Speikkogel - a scenic route).
Cross the slopes below the summit of Hühnerstütze (1989 m) for a few minutes, then reach the Schäferkreuz cross, where the previously mentioned path joins past the Grillitschhütte hut. Continue straight ahead here and within a few minutes you will reach an undistinguished pass between Hühnerstütze (1989 m) on the left and the Sprungkogel peak (1868 m) on the right.
At the pass there is a marked crossroads where you continue slightly left towards the Großer Speikkogel summit (straight ahead Großhöllerhütte hut). The path continues along the wide cart track, which then crosses several gurgling streams. The winding track, which initially descends gently, turns into a winding footpath at a slightly higher level, which continues across views and rolling meadows. A little further on, the path to the Koralpenhaus hut branches off to the right, and we continue straight on towards the Großer Speikkogel summit. The marked trail then turns slightly to the left and begins to climb moderately over a slightly steeper slope. There is a short steeper climb and the path leads to a small saddle between the Seespitz and Großer Speikkogel peaks.
At the saddle you will reach the marked Weinebene - Großer Speikkogel scenic route, which you follow to the right. We then begin a slightly steeper climb towards the highest peak of Golica. Higher up, the path descends and leads us down the slope to the summit ridge, where we continue to the right. From here it is only a few minutes' walk and the path leads to the cross at the top of the Großer Speikkogel.

We can extend the trip to the following destinations: Seespitz (Golica/Koralpe)

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