Handlesberg

The Handlesberg stands in the Gutensteiner Alps of Lower Austria, rising to 1 370 metres above sea level. It forms the south-westernmost ridge of this range, three kilometres east-north-east of Schwarzau im Gebirge. The mountain’s steep northern face of Dachsteinkalk is cut by the Freudentaler Mauer, while its southern slopes show gentler Gosauschichten plateaus before dropping in Plassenkalk walls to the Schwarza valley. A small iron summit cross marks the highest point, offering wide views westwards to the Ötscher and eastwards to the Hochschneeberg. The Handlesberg is the second-highest peak in the Gutensteiner Alps, surpassed only by the nearby Reisalpe. Despite this, it remains little visited because there are no managed huts and the area lies off main routes. The Falkenstein, its best-known outlier, rises 400 metres above the Schwarza with sheer Plassenkalk walls and fine prospects. A 17-hectare nature park around Schwarzau-Markt protects part of the Falkenstein’s southern and western slopes, with signed paths for exploration. Three marked routes lead to the summit. The most popular starts near Schwarzau’s centre, passes a wooden chapel and a short laddered rock step, then follows forest tracks past abandoned farmsteads to climb the cleared south flank of the Freudentaler Mauer. An alternative leaves from Vois, crosses the Steinbach valley and ascends steeply to the Hahnstab ridge before traversing narrow, airy spurs to the summit plateau. In winter the west flank below Schwarzau is avoided for ski tours, but the slopes above Vois offer safer, quieter ascents. Snowshoe hikers also start from Vois, finding open glades and open views on the mountain’s gentler eastern flanks.