Rax-Schneeberg Group


The Rax-Schneeberg Group is a mountain range in the Northern Limestone Alps on the Styrian-Lower Austrian border in Austria.

Location

According to the official classification of the Eastern Alps by the Alpine Club, the Rax-Schneeberg Group is bounded by the following divisions to neighbouring groups of mountains:
The highest point in the limestone massif of the Schneeberg is the Klosterwappen at. Its nearby twin peak is known as the Kaiserstein. The two summits are the highest mountains in the state of Lower Austria. The highest two elevations in the Rax massif are the Heukuppe at 2,007 m and the Scheibwaldhöhe at 1,943 m.
Other peaks are the Große Scheibe, the Tratenkogel, the Ochnerhöhe and the Kreuzberg.

Protected areas

The Rax Alpine region, together with the Schneealpe and Schneeberg belong to the river source protected area of the First Vienna Mountain Spring Pipeline . The Schneeberg and Rax are separated by the Höllental valley and are two of Vienna's "local mountains" or Hausberge.
The Schneeberg and Rax lie within the Northeastern Border Alps: Hohe Wand-Schneeberg-Rax Special Area of Conservation.

Schneeberg Railway

The Schneeberg has been linked for over 100 years by the Schneeberg Railway, a cog railway that climbs to a height of 1,800 m. The twin peaks may be reached from the valley station in one to two hours. The footpath runs eastwards over the Hengst or westwards through the Fadenwände.
There are trails to the Rax from the mountain spa of Puchberg am Schneeberg, and from the wild Höllental valley to the south. In addition the Schneeberg may be approached from Payerbach, Prigglitz and Reichenau via the Gahns.