whirlwind trail Wildschönau
Game points
How do nature games work?
Look for signs at the game points along the trail. Scan the QR code and follow the instructions. Of course, you can adapt the nature games to suit your own ideas and your child’s age.
Why Play?
Playing is a wonderful way to get to know nature here in Wildschönau. Each station is an invitation to discover the joy of play. Playing and hiking means having fun together, making discoveries, learning, and getting active. Before you know it, the distance doesn’t seem so far anymore. The trail becomes manageable for your children, and you’ll take many ideas with you on your family hikes. Tip: Our nature games work almost anywhere—in the garden or even at the park.
Flying Like a Whirlwind
When you run fast, you feel the wind on your face and hands. If you wet your hands, the breeze feels even colder. This “trick” is called evaporative cooling.
1. Take the water bottle out of your backpack and lightly wet your hands and cheeks.
2. Keep your “flight path” (running route) in sight and spread your arms wide.
3. Now start running! Can you feel the cold wind?
4. What you’re feeling right now is called evaporative cooling.
Our tip: If it’s nice and warm outside, you can wet one arm and leave the other dry—that way, you’ll feel the difference even better.
To the Dragon
We can't promise that our dragons in Drachental Family Park will fly as well as you do—but it's sure to be an adventure.
Find colors
Discover the different colors of the forest
There are such beautiful colors and contrasts in this spot, all around the bench. Maybe the leaves and grasses in this color are found only here?! You can find out by collecting lots of colors.
1. Look for leaves, twigs, or flowers in different shades of color. Check the meadow, the edge of the forest, or right around the bench.
2. Set a time limit for how long you can search, and get started!
3. When the time is up, meet at the red bench, and everyone shows what colors and items they’ve found.
4. Now sort everything by color, and take a moment to marvel at and admire your finds!
Tip: To make it a little more challenging, you can specify specific color ranges to search for and collect!
To the museum
Wood is a fascinating material! At our Tyrolean Wood Museum, you’ll learn lots of background information about this wonderful material, and you can enjoy a walk in the fresh air along the Wood Trail in Auffach.
Nature graffiti
Arranging Letters
Here, you can arrange your initial letter or the “W” for Wildschönau like a piece of natural graffiti. You can use any materials you find.
Here’s what you’ll need to play: natural materials for arranging
1. Take a good look around and find different natural materials.
2. These can be leaves, twigs, pinecones, or even small stones.
3. Find a flat spot and start laying out the first letter.
4. You can lay out your first initial or, for example, the “W” for Wildschönau.
Tip: You can lay out other words, leave out individual letters, and let people guess the word! Your friends will surely love receiving a photo of a “graffiti” featuring their initial as a vacation greeting!
For all kids who love the outdoors
With Sonja, our true outdoor expert, you can explore the forests and meadows around Wildschönau together. She knows every leaf and herb—and even the secrets of this forest. The guided herb and family hike takes place every Friday.
Tree slalom
Run Around the Trees
Nature has prepared a great place for us to play here. Trees along the path or in the field are like living slalom poles that you can run around. The great thing about trees is that their roots are deeply anchored in the ground, but their leaves and tree crowns always grow toward the light and up into the sky.
Here’s what you need to play: Trees in a ro
1. Trees growing in a row are your natural slalom poles.
2. Decide together how many trees you want to run around on the way there and back.
3. Decide whether you’ll walk or run—fast, slow, or quietly.
4. One by one, run around the trees, back and forth.
Tip: Look for other natural obstacles to use for a slalom run. For example, you can also place rocks on the path that you’ll have to run around.
To the alpine pasture
Do you want to see how the holes are made in cheese, and do you love buttermilk? Then visit the Schönanger Alm, which has a playground and a demonstration cheese-making facility.
Time travel
A long, long time ago… …there wasn’t a forest trail here yet; everything was much wilder back then. The name of this forest trail is Wildenbachweg. So let’s travel back in time and imagine that this trail used to be a wild stream, with lots of water, rocks, and rapids. Can you already feel the water on your feet?
Here’s what you’ll need to play: ideas for crossing this strea
1. The forest trail is the wild stream, and you have to get across it, no matter what.
2. Get into character, act it out, and get going.
3. For example, wade from one side to the other with big strides.
4. Hop and climb along the embankment, and somehow make it to the other end of the wild stream to become whitewater heroes.
Tip: Forest trails with kids are usually pretty boring, but this one turns into a wild stream. Start a cool adventure story that incorporates the dangers and thrills of the river. Help each other out, pull each other “out of the water,” and let your kids be the ones to save you—because here, they’re the heroes of the wild waters!
You love animals?
Then a visit to the Foisching Wildlife Park in Niederau is just the thing for you. There, you can watch deer.
As fast as...
Everything from fast to slow: Which animal runs how fast, jumps how far—do you know? And what’s crucial for this game—can you imitate it? A mountain hare can reach speeds of 70 km/h over short distances, for example—we won’t be able to do that—but a house mouse can reach 14 km/h.
Here’s what you’ll need to play: A good running track
1. “You’re tiptoeing like a little mouse!” The child tries to tiptoe lightly.
2. The animals are imitated in terms of their speed, their jumps, and the way they move.
3. It’s also about recognizing the differences between the individual animals.
4. Or you can choose animals that you observe closely while hiking and then imitate them.
Tip: In the game, you can also switch to other groups of animals—songbirds, birds of prey, insects, snakes. The contrasts and comparisons are exciting. And so is the realization that great diversity lies within these differences.
The new family adventure trail guarantees you a relaxing family time in the midst of our beautiful cultural landscape between streams, forests, and meadows.
- Easy hiking trail
- Duration approx. 2 hours
- 4.5 kilometers
- Only 230 meters of elevation gain
- Only 260 meters of elevation loss
The hiking route leads along narrow meadow paths to wide forest trails, occasionally crossing bridges.
There are a few steps to negotiate at the bridges, a few gates, and the trail alternates between meadow, gravel, and forest paths.
- There is a total elevation gain of approx. 200 meters along the entire length of the trail.
- There are six nature play stations with game ideas along the trail, which can be accessed via QR codes.
- The trail is not suitable for strollers!
- The Wirbelwindweg is easily accessible by public transport and the hiking bus. The bus stops are located in the immediate vicinity of the starting point of the tour (Niederau Harfenwirt bus stop) and at the end of the trail (Oberau Bergbauernmuseum bus stop).
- The Bergbauernmuseum Wildschönau is within sight at the end of the Wirbelwindweg.
