Winter hike core chapel

This winter circuit to the core chapel starts at the main square of St. Ruprecht an der Raab, the central hiking starting point. It first leads together with the Panorama trail past the fire brigade over the Weizbach bridge into Gartengasse, which we follow straight on to soon cross the main road.
Here we first turn right and then immediately left, where after a short ascent we reach the Hubertus Chapel, a popular resting place with a beautiful view of wintry St. Ruprecht an der Raab and Breitegg.
Up to here we hike on cleared roads - nevertheless it can be icy along the way!
Further on, the path leads us across a meadow (beware, there is no clearing here - proper footwear is needed) directly into one of the beautiful high forests that line the ridge. Enjoy the peace and quiet of the forest in winter.
Then cross a road and after about 100 metres turn left into the forest at a house.
Via a particularly idyllic spot - the Salmbachbrückerl and the Marienruhe - especially in winter when the Salmbach is iced over and glistens in the sun - we continue uphill a little through the snow-covered forest until we come to a junction where the Panorama trail and the core chapel trail separate.
We continue straight ahead following the yellow signs towards the core chapel (the Panorama trail turns right) until we reach the end of the forest. There the "Stoarieglkreuz" is waiting for us and invites us to take a short rest.
We walk past beautiful detached houses towards the road. At the asphalted and cleared road, we turn left and follow it for a few hundred metres.
After a few hundred metres, we take a forest path to the left into a small wood. Here, after a few metres, we turn right again and continue hiking towards the ridge.
At the edge of the forest, right next to beautiful apple orchards, we continue uphill for a bit until we reach the road via a meadow path. Here we can enjoy the apple orchards, now snow-covered in winter or glistening in the frost in the sun and hibernating.
Arriving at the cleared road, a wonderful 360 °degree panoramic view will surprise us. At 450 m above sea level, directly on the Styrian Apple Road, we have a magnificent view of wintry Styria: to the Schöckl, the local mountain of Graz, to the Kulm, the Koralpe and the mountains of the Wechsel region.
Enjoying this wonderful view, we can already see the core chapel - the destination - on our left. The core chapel - a special place of spiritual life - invites us to linger. Here, the life-size Emmaus Jesus, carved by Hans Pendl, welcomes us at eye level, so to speak. Here we can take a little time to find peace in the core chapel and enjoy the wonderful view.
With fresh strength we start the way back. We continue along the asphalted road in a westerly direction until we come to a crossroads. Here we turn left. We pass well-kept family homes and farms for about one kilometre until we turn right along a forest road.
We walk a few metres through fragrant apple orchards until we reach the so-called "Arndorfer Wald". This forest road was once the connection between St. Ruprecht and Kühwiesen, but is no longer used and therefore there is no winter road maintenance. Nevertheless, it should be possible to walk along it at any time (unless there is a lot of snow).
We hike downhill through this beautiful forest until we arrive in the St. Ruprecht district of Arndorf. There we come to the asphalted road and turn left at the first junction to the Arndorf village chapel, an open prayer chapel that was redesigned in 2015.
We follow the road until we come to a larger crossroads again. Here we turn left towards "Lieb Bau", a large local construction company. Directly at the Lieb Bau company we make a sharp right turn and walk across a level crossing and a subway back to the St. Ruprechter main square.
The last kilometres are again on cleared asphalt roads.