Most beautiful hiking routes

Route between Walser village and Wettertanne

A wonderful view awaits hikers above the Hinterbergalpe.

(Bild: Bergauer Rubina)

Even if the path from Ebnit to Schuttannen is still partly wintry - spring is making itself felt. The woodpeckers are already beginning to mating in the forest.

Ebnit is an idyllic little village in the municipality of Dornbirn at an altitude of 1075 meters and is one of the Walser villages in Vorarlberg. In the middle of the Bregenzerwald mountains, the settlement was difficult to access for centuries due to its geographical location. The establishment of the Walser settlement in this area is documented in a document from 1351 with the first mention of "Ebenot". The place name most probably goes back to the name of a flat area in mountainous terrain. In 1921, the then independent municipality of Ebnit concluded a contract with the town of Dornbirn for the construction of Ebniterstraße, which was completed in 1927. In the same year, there was a serious fire disaster in which the church, school and vicarage were destroyed. As a result of this disaster and the expensive road construction, the parish was in dire financial straits and could no longer meet its payments. This ultimately led to Ebnit being incorporated into the town of Dornbirn.

Tips and information

Type: Winter hike
Starting point: Church bus stop, Ebnit (Dornbirn) or paid parking lot in Schuttanen
Duration: around three hours
Ascent: approx. 420 meters in altitude
Equipment: winter-proof hiking boots, clothing suitable for the weather, hiking poles if required and daypack with drink/snack Refreshment stops: Berggasthof Schuttannen (Wed to Fri from 11 am, Sat and Sun from 10 am), Gasthof Schiheim (Fri from 12 am, Sat and Sun from 9 am - opening times are updated regularly)
Public transport: Bus route 177 from Dornbirn train station to Ebnit church

The starting point of today's tour is at the church bus stop in Ebnit. From there, walk via Pfarrers Älpele to the junction where you keep right towards Schönermannalpe. Part of the route leads uphill on a groomed forest road. If you listen carefully, you can sometimes hear the woodpeckers mating during the hike. This lasts relatively long - from January to April. In contrast to songbirds, which often woo females with varied and melodious songs, the mating call of woodpeckers is comparatively monotonous. Often only one syllable is repeated. In addition to this characteristic call, woodpeckers also have another, widely audible sound: drumming. On the one hand, this is used for courtship, but is also a warning to male rivals that the respective territory is already occupied.

The great spotted woodpecker and black woodpecker in particular acoustically mark their territory. For their courtship drumming, the animals look for hollow tree trunks to peck at the resonating body at around 20 beats per second. To prevent the woodpecker from suffering a concussion, its beak is constructed in such a way that the force of the blow is cushioned. The bone covering of the brain is also thicker than in other bird species. Incidentally, females also drum, albeit more quietly and less frequently than their male counterparts. And so it goes, accompanied by the roll of the drums, to the Hinterbergalpe. There you can take a short detour and climb up to the top hairpin bend above the Alphaus (1379 m) to enjoy a magnificent panoramic view. Impressive limestone formationsOther than that, follow the signpost to Schuttannen. The name supposedly comes from the name of a weathered fir tree, which is said to have been so large that it was visible from Dornbirn.

Buchs crossflower

The box campion (also known as alpine dwarf box, box-leaved campion, wood myrtle or Polygala chamaebuxus) is an evergreen, low-growing species from the campion family. With its leathery, small, oval leaves, the plant is reminiscent of the box tree, which gave it its German name. Its eye-catching flowers, which are either white, yellowish or have violet-purple accents, appear from April to June and attract busy pollinators such as bees and butterflies. These days, the first buds are just becoming visible, which already give an idea of the respective flower color. The box campion is mainly found in the Alps, but also in other mountainous regions of Central and Southern Europe such as the Pyrenees or the Balkan Mountains, where it grows on calcareous, rather dry soils in sparse forests and alpine meadows. The plant climbs to altitudes of up to 2500 meters. In Austria, this species is common to scattered in all federal states.

The area extends north of the Hohe Kugel between the Dornbirner First and the Rhine Valley and lies in the center of the so-called Schuttannenberge, a mountain range within the Bregenzerwaldgebirge. The region is characterized by impressive limestone formations and diverse geology. The highest peak in this mountain range is the "Schöne Mann" at an altitude of 1532 meters. Schuttannen was already a popular destination for ski tourers in the 1920s. Nowadays, two drag lifts are operated at the foot of the mountain in good weather conditions. The Berggasthof Schuttannen and the Gasthaus Schiheim invite you to take a leisurely break. Return to Ebnit via the same route. Alternatively, you can take the bus from the Schuttannen parking lot in the direction of Hohenems.