Kleinzell im Mühlkreis: Paths, Water and Buildings

Landscape, hiking trails, a swimming lake and historic buildings give Kleinzell im Mühlkreis a variety of distinctive features. When choosing a hotel, start by deciding what you want to see: consider whether you are most interested in views, a short walk, a challenging hike or cultural sites during your stay. The different options in Kleinzell are easy to distinguish by their routes, themes and landscapes.

Landscape between rivers and ridges

Kleinzell lies in the southeastern granite highlands between the Große Mühl and Diesenbach rivers. This setting shapes the landscape around the town. From Edhügel, panoramic views extend over the Danube to the south towards the Alps, and to the north towards the Bohemian Forest. If you like to take in different types of scenery when choosing a destination, you will find viewpoints here looking both south and north.

The hiking trails are also part of this landscape: they run through and across the valleys of Kleinzell. They offer places to relax away from major transport routes. Maps of hiking and cycling trails are available at the Kleinzell municipal office and can help you find your way around the area.

Swimming lake and buildings

Resilacke, also known as Resi-Lacke, is a swimming lake on the site of a former granite quarry in the municipality of Kleinzell. The former quarry gives the lake a different landscape setting from one without this history. Resilacke is therefore a distinctive attraction when choosing where to visit, alongside the hiking trails and the granite highlands.

Gneisenau Castle was a moated castle and is now a nursing home run by the Rohrbach district. Due to later structural alterations, little of the original complex remains visible from the outside. Surviving features include a three-storey tower with a Gothic drawbridge gate and onion dome, as well as a Renaissance arcade in the small courtyard. Its history as a moated castle and its present-day use give the building different connections to the past and present; at the same time, its surviving elements reveal its architectural variety.

The St. John of Nepomuk Chapel stands in front of the castle’s main entrance. It is thought to date from around 1730 and is one of the oldest chapels of its kind. The castle and chapel are directly connected by their location, while their respective histories offer distinct points of interest for exploring the local area.

Another striking structure is the Mühltal Bridge over the valley of the Große Mühl. Opened in 1991, it is around 100 metres high and 300 metres long, and is currently the largest bridge in Upper Austria. Historic architecture and a major infrastructure project thus stand side by side in Kleinzell as distinct cultural and architectural attractions.

Choose routes by length and focus

The Zeller Runde is a well-marked, 1.9-kilometre circular trail around Kleinzell’s town centre. Places to rest and relax, as well as a newly built giant swing with panoramic views, are among its features. The themed circular hiking trail “Von Wegen... Kunst” (“Paths... Art”) offers a different experience: it is 6 kilometres long and has around 20 stops featuring art objects made from wood, stone or textiles. The stops invite visitors not only to look, but also to create, change and interact through play. The two routes therefore offer a choice between a shorter loop around the town and a longer art trail with interactive stops.

If you are looking for a challenging circular hike, consider the Großer Mühltalweg. From Kleinzell, it crosses the Mühltal Bridge and runs through the valley of the Große Mühl. The trail thus combines hiking with two specific landscape and architectural features. For the art trail and the Großer Mühltalweg, check the latest route information, as details or trail conditions may vary.

The MTB-Mühltal-Runde is another option for a mountain bike ride. It starts at Kleinzell’s town square and passes Resilacke and the Partenstein power station. This lets you choose whether you would rather hike or explore a cycling route, instead of judging the trails by length alone.

Getting there by train and bus

Kleinzell can be reached by taking the Westbahn railway to Linz, then the Mühlkreisbahn railway to Kleinzell stop, and finally a bus or taxi. If you are planning to travel by public transport, check the timetables for the routes mentioned in advance. The route lengths and different trail themes can help you plan your stay in Kleinzell to suit your interests.

Discover more destinations: Altenfelden, Sankt Ulrich Im Mühlkreis, Nebelberg, Arnreit, Afiesl, Aigen Im Mühlkreis, Schwarzenberg Am Böhmerwald, Berg Bei Rohrbach.

Back to the main travel overview: Rohrbach.