A walk-through arboretum, a wood culture educational trail and a former fortified church offer different ways to explore nature and local history in Gnesau. Gnesau lies in the Upper Gurk Valley; the municipality is nestled in the natural landscape of the Gurktal Alps and the Nockberge Biosphere Reserve and belongs to the Feldkirchen district. Around 59 percent of the municipality’s area of approximately 7,900 hectares is forested. The share of forest gives the landscape a tangible measure and fits with the local focus on trees and wood culture.

Trees and wood culture

The arboretum is a walk-through tree garden where many familiar as well as rare native tree species can be viewed or studied. The opportunity to walk through the garden while taking a closer look at the tree species makes the plant collection itself the focus of a visit. Rare ginkgo and sequoia trees grow in the Carinthian Garden of Trees in Gnesau. The tree theme thus ranges from the broad diversity of native species to two rare types of tree.

The arboretum is opposite the Gnesau Cultural Centre and also marks the starting and finishing point of the Gnesau Wood Culture Educational Trail. Centuries-old farmhouses, blackened by the sun, line the trail. The garden and the houses give the route two distinct themes: here, the focus is on tree species; there, on old rural buildings. Gnesau is one of the Carinthian municipalities on the Holzstraße (Wood Road); this means that the connection with wood is rooted not only in the individual educational trail but also in a network of municipalities.

Local history and trails

The Roman Catholic parish church of Gnesau is dedicated to Saint Leonard and is a former fortified church. Its dedication and former status as a fortified church offer two historical perspectives on the same building: its religious significance and its former function. For visitors interested in local history, this is a different focus from wood culture: instead of an educational trail, a single church takes centre stage.

Two numbered hiking trails are Gnesau–Dürrer Baum–Buchskopf (No. 164) and Gnesau–Sonnleiten–Knittel (No. 158). When comparing the routes, you can use the destination names and numbers as a guide; both help distinguish one trail from the other. Since 2007, a section of the Hemma Pilgrimage Trail has passed through the municipality of Gnesau. The numbered hiking routes are thus joined by another route designated as a pilgrimage trail.

Gnesau has a well-developed network of trails for mountain bikers and cyclists. Unlike the individually named hiking routes, the focus here is on the trail network. The Gnesau cross-country ski trail is available when there is sufficient snow. If cross-country skiing is important to your trip, take this condition into account when planning your season. The activities therefore differ in how they are laid out: specific names and numbers for hiking, a network for cycling and a snow condition for cross-country skiing.

Discover more destinations: Poitschach, Oberboden, Hochrindl-Alpl, Turracherhöhe, Ossiach, Stiegl, Sankt Urban, Hochrindl

For the main travel overview: Feldkirchen.