Hiking with kids in Filzmoos: Picture Book Loop, Moor Trail and playground

The Picture Book Loop, Moor Trail and Panorama Trail don’t start in the valley but up on the Rossbrand. The Papagenobahn takes you to the top station at around 1,600 metres in seven minutes. So the gondola does the climbing for you, and everyone’s legs stay fresh for what awaits at the top.

The Filz & Moor nature paradise lies all around the top station. The Picture Book Loop and Moor Trail start right next to the Schörgialm, the hut at the top station, the playground is just below, and the Panorama Trail to the summit cross begins here too.

In summer, you park at the Papagenobahn car park right by the valley station. Without a car, the Fidibus takes you around Filzmoos: it runs as a hiking bus from May to October, even daily from July to September, and with the Filzmoos Sommer Card you ride for free.

Which trail suits you depends mainly on two questions: how old are the kids, and is a pushchair coming along?

The Filz & Moor Picture Book Loop is designed for children aged four to seven. Filzi, the little dragonfly from the Rossbrand, leads you to seven stations in the raised bog, where you get to know the animals of the moor. Each station has a stamp, and anyone who collects all seven reaches the finish with a full card.

At around 30 minutes’ walk, the loop fits nicely into a morning, even if there’s a nap to come afterwards. It ends right at Filzi’s Moor Adventure Playground, so the next destination is reached before anyone even asks about it.

Leave the pushchair behind for this loop, as it isn’t suitable for pushchairs. Little ones who still need carrying are most comfortable in a child carrier backpack.

For older siblings and anyone who hasn’t had enough after the Picture Book Loop, the Moor Trail awaits. At eleven adventure stations, they find out who lives in the raised bog on the Rossbrand, what grows there and why this habitat is so precious.

The Moor Explorer Handbook turns the trail into a puzzle hunt. With it, you collect clues at every station and solve tasks until the solution word is revealed at the end. Anyone who works it out gets a little surprise at the ticket office.

Allow around 90 minutes for the Moor Trail. It isn’t suitable for pushchairs either.

If a pushchair is coming along, the Panorama Trail is the one for you. It’s pushchair-friendly and leads from the top station up to the summit cross at 1,768 metres. Allow around 90 minutes to get there and the same time to walk back to the top station.

Along the way, the Panorama Bend opens up a view of the Bischofsmütze, the landmark of Filzmoos. At the top you look out over around 150 peaks, and the Radstädter Hütte stands right by the summit cross. In summer it’s open daily from 9:00 to 17:00, with the kitchen serving until 16:00. In extremely bad weather, it may close for the day at short notice.

How to plan a whole day on the Rossbrand around the gondola timetable, and where a stop is worthwhile, is covered in our article on hiking on the Rossbrand.

The first break awaits right at the top station. Below the Schörgialm lies Filzi’s Moor Adventure Playground: here kids glide over the moor on the dragonfly zip line, scramble up the climbing tree, splash about with water and sand, and walk across soft moss in the barefoot circle. From the hut you also look out over the mountain lake. The Schörgialm is open on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 9:00 to 16:30, exactly as long as the gondola runs.

Deeper in the forest, below the top station, lies the Oberhagmoosalm at 1,376 metres. While the grown-ups sit on the sun terrace, the kids romp around the playground and visit the animals in the small-animal enclosure. From the top station it’s a 75-minute walk. The hut is closed on Mondays.

Around 50 minutes from the top station are the Steinalm at 1,330 metres and the Moosalm at 1,334 metres. The Steinalm is easy to reach for hikers of all ages. Both huts are closed on Wednesdays.

All three huts lie lower than the top station. For the walk back up to the gondola, allow the same time as on the way there: around 50 minutes from the Steinalm and Moosalm, 75 minutes from the Oberhagmoosalm. So a trip to the Oberhagmoosalm and back means two and a half hours of walking alone, and the gondola only runs until 16:30. You can also reach the Moosalm without the gondola at all: the Kids’ Stamp Trail leads up from Filzmoos. That’s handy on days when the gondola isn’t running, such as Mondays or Fridays.

The Papagenobahn doesn’t run every day in summer. The summer season lasts from mid-May to mid-October. It runs on selected days, usually Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, and on Sundays too in high summer, always from 9:00 to 16:30. The exact operating days are listed on the Operating Hours page. Rain doesn’t stop the gondola, but in high winds, thunderstorms or heavy snowfall, operations may be restricted or cancelled.

For the Papagenobahn there are uphill, downhill and return tickets, plus a separate children’s rate for kids born between 2011 and 2020. With the family bonus, the third and every additional child born in 2011 or later rides free. You’ll find the current prices on the Tickets & Prices page.

If you’re staying with a participating host in Filzmoos, the Filzmoos Sommer Card includes one return trip per operating day. With the SalzburgerLand Card, a single return trip is already included in the card price. If your dog is hiking with you, it gets its own dog ticket.

If you’re travelling as a group of 20 or more, such as a school class or youth group, the group rate with a free place applies. How to plan a day like this is covered in our article on group outings in Filzmoos.

In the morning, the webcam at the top station shows you whether the sun is shining on the Rossbrand. You’ll find the forecast for the next seven days on our weather page.

1. 1Plan your outing for a day when the gondola is running, and check the Operating Hours page beforehand.
2. 2Start with the Picture Book Loop: after around 30 minutes you’re at the playground and know how much walking everyone’s legs still have in them today.
3. 3With a pushchair, take the Panorama Trail. The Picture Book Loop and Moor Trail aren’t suitable for pushchairs.
4. 4Check your hut’s closing days the evening before. They aren’t the same everywhere.
5. 5Count stations, not kilometres. Then the answer to “How much further?” is simple: to the next station.