Schmuggler-Wanderung (17)

Duty-free through the Donauleiten

Easy hike for the whole family. On one side, the Trappists prayed in Engelszell Abbey, on the other, smugglers crept through the twilight: in 1765, the border between Bavaria and Austria "migrated" westwards, bringing the municipality of Neustift into the Mühlviertel.

The significant price differences between over here and over there made many a contemporary reach for the soot pot: Almost everything was smuggled - from salt barrels to whole oxen.

Very few people have loaded up that much today, starting in Engelhartszell and marching along the Treppelweg beside the Danube to the Jochenstein power station, 2 kilometres away. Here we cross the river and thus the border.

On the other side, we walk 500 metres downstream on the road, then turn left, shorten the bend in the road and climb up the "Öttlsteig" to the village of Riedl. At a transformer, turn right onto the tarmac road to Gottsdorf.

Pass the church on the right and continue for approx. 600 metres in the direction of Neustift to the border sign, where the signposted smugglers' trail branches off to the right. Follow the signpost "zum 47er-Grenzstein" to the right (rest area with information board).

Continue via Forstedt to Kleinmollsberg and preferably on the road through Großmollsberg until you reach the chapel at the Penzenstein panoramic point on the right. Shortly before this, a meadow path on the right leads back to the Schmugglerweg.

This is followed by the descent on the "Frauensteig" through the boulder heaps of the steep Donauleiten. Between April and October, a trip on the Danube with the Engelhartszell cycle ferry concludes our tour - the rest of the time, you have to hike back to the Jochenstein power station on the right on the Treppelweg.

A longer ascent, descent on a narrow and stony path. An interesting "Smuggler's Pass" with many other tour suggestions is available from the Engelhartszell tourist office. Don't forget your passport!

Rest stops:
in Engelhartszell, Jochenstein, Gottsdorf and Pühret.