Etappe 20: Alpina Antica Trail | ET20: Zwickenberg - Dellach im Drautal

You start in Zwickenberg at the parish church of St. Leonhard. From there you walk along the access road to the village, first to the west, then through a long hairpin bend to the hamlet of Sittnitz and then down two hairpin bends. In the second bend to the right (from Zwickenberg 2.6 km), a forest road (“Fußweg Simmerlach”) branches off straight ahead, which leads down a few bends to the first houses of Simmerlach.

 

Keep left at the fire station and you will reach the village square of Simmerlach. The road to the left leads to a mini traffic circle. Walk straight on uphill towards Irschen until you reach a fork in the road. Turn right along the slightly smaller road to Mötschlach. Keep left at a crossroads in the village. After about 70 m, a hiking trail branches off to the left towards “Irschen”, which takes you through the forest along a stream for about 50 meters up to the larger road towards Irschen. Take this road to the right and after about 10 minutes you will reach the nature and herb village of Irschen. Continue along the road through the village, turning left at the “Vorfahrt-Achten” sign until you reach the Dorfwirt inn.

Now take the smaller road to the left in the direction of Suppersberg, follow the signs for Suppersberg through the village until you pass a bridge and leave Irschen. Ignore the hiking trail branching off to the right and after 200 m you will reach a hiking trail turning left along the road in the direction of “Griebitsch/Irschner Panorama-Rastplatz” (take the right-hand path). Follow this hiking trail for around 45 minutes along an increasingly narrow path, initially through forest and finally across an alpine meadow up to the Griebitsch farmstead - at a fork after 200 m, take the forest path on the right and follow the signs for “Griebitsch”.

At the Griebitsch farmstead, you will come to a small asphalt road. Turn left up the mountain until you reach a crossroads. You have now reached the highest point of your day's stage and keep straight on towards Suppersberg. Immediately after a farmstead, the road becomes a forest and meadow path, which first descends and then ascends to the east to a larger forest road. Continue downhill in the same direction to an asphalt road, then turn right downhill through a hairpin bend to the next right-hand bend. Here you take the right-hand forest road of the two leading straight ahead. After 500 m, don't miss the hiking trail branching off to the right, which you cross, always descending, once choosing the left-hand path and finally crossing a ditch to reach the first house in Oberrietschach.

An asphalt road begins again, which you follow downhill. At a stop sign, continue downhill on the right, through the hamlet of Rietschach and past the valley station of a T-bar lift until you reach a priority sign. Turn right along the road, then right again at a stop sign and you are in Dellach. Continue downhill past the farm and before the restaurant “da Prontna” turn right into the small road. You pass the church and shortly afterwards reach your destination at Haus Taurer, the tourist information office and municipal office.

Highlights of the mule trade: Nature and herb village Irschen (46.756335, 13.024121)
A road ran through the Drau Valley as early as around the birth of Christ, connecting the western Illyrian settlements with the eastern settlements in the Carinthian lake district. In view of these finds, it is assumed that there must have been a rest stop for Illyrian travelers near the village of Potschling. Irschen itself was founded between 805 and 810 by Patriarch Ursus I of Aquilea as a parish and fortified place. Herbs and wild plants have a long tradition in the herb village of Irschen. The knowledge and experience of the diverse uses and processing of herbs and medicinal plants can be seen and smelled in every corner of the village.
Further Information: https://www.kraeuterdorf-irschen.com/