Egelsee in Abtenau – Little jewel in the Salzburg Tennengau – salzburg.ORF.at
The area has remained natural – with an unobstructed view of the Tennengebirge. Swimming is no longer allowed in the Egelsee – but you can walk around the lake extensively.
The Egelsee can only be reached on foot from Abtenau. Anyone who has not already arrived by train and bus in a climate-friendly manner can leave their car in one of the visitor parking spaces in Abtenau. In the town center you can still fill up at the healing water fountain and then you walk on the life path – as the path is called – around the lake.
Depending on the weather and season, fog rises from the reeds, the lake is covered with a layer of ice or the surface of the water glitters in the sun.
Recharge your batteries in seclusion
It invites you to linger and draw strength – but not for swimming or boating for more than 50 years. Since 1971 this gem has been a designated landscape conservation area. No tourist construction projects disturb the idyll.
Varied family hike
It is a varied circular hiking trail with a magnificent view of the mountain panorama all around. The Egelsee lies in a gently rolling landscape surrounded by a wide reed belt – almost untouched nature. One and a half to two hours should be planned for the way.
The nature trail is five kilometers long and easy to walk on, and definitely suitable for families. Display boards along the way provide information about the flora and fauna and the history of the lake.
Shipment note:
“Salzburg today”, September 29, 2022
From mud bath to medicinal water
At the beginning of the 20th century there was even a boat trip on the Egelsee. Once a year there was a festival for the servants and maids of the area. At that time, the boat trip on the Egelsee was one of the highlights.
In the interwar period people began to use the moor and offer healing baths for locals and guests. A bathing hut was built on the lake shore for this purpose. The moor was pumped directly from the lake into the bathing hut, heated and distributed to the treatment cabins.
How to find the treasure:
Public: By train to Golling and then by bus line 470 to the center of Abtenau. From there follow the signposted circular hiking trail.
Car: Coming from the north on the Tauernautobahn A10, take the Golling-Abtenau exit (exit 28) or the Lammertal-Hüttau exit (exit 56/60) coming from the south. Then continue on the Lammertal federal road to Abtenau. Parking spaces in the town center.
Abtenau almost got the name Bad Abtenau. In March 1963, the peat deposits were officially recognized as a remedy. The corresponding notification was printed in the state law gazette.
But not only known for the Moor War Abtenau. As early as 1871, two springs five kilometers from the town center were used as medicinal water sources. These are sodium, calcium, chloride and sulfate mineral sources.
In 1997 the market town of Abtenau bought the Annenquelle and the Sankt Rupertusquelle. There has been a line to the town center since 2021. There, the healing water now gushes out of a well in front of the municipal office. The taste takes some getting used to, but the salty, tart water is said to have a rejuvenating effect.
On the way of life
Regardless of whether you drink from the fountain of youth at the beginning or at the end of the Egelsee hike, the round contributes to your well-being. The area around the Egelsee is also popular with Abtenau school classes – as a classroom. True to the motto: “Learn not for school, but for life” they are on the path of life.