Kößlarn: Hiking Trails, Rock Formations and Culture

Kößlarn combines an extensive network of hiking trails in the Grafenwald forest with distinctive natural formations and cultural attractions. This makes both walks and circular hikes, as well as individual natural and cultural sights, relevant to your travel plans.

Hiking Trails in the Grafenwald Forest

The Grafenwald hiking area in Kößlarn has an extensive network of marked trails, including both walks and longer circular hikes. The Via Nova pilgrimage trail passes through Bad Griesbach to Kößlarn, then continues via Ebertsfelden through the Grafenwald forest to Münchham, and onward via St. Anna to Ering. This means local walks and circular trails are available alongside a pilgrimage route passing through a series of named places.

Information boards at the market square and at the car park in the Grafenwald forest show the exact routes of the hiking trails. Together with the marked network, they give you two specific ways to familiarise yourself with the routes. The boards provide guidance on the trail routes; the markings identify the trails.

Rock Formations and Culture in Kößlarn

The Steinerne Rössl is an upright rock slab along the Notzart-Freinberg circular trail in the Grafenwald hiking area. Its shape resembles a horse lying down. The Rock Garden is a natural monument in the Loher Graben: there, bizarre boulders line a stream channel that descends steeply. These present two different natural features: a single upright slab and boulders beside a stream channel.

The Kößlarn fortified church is the only complete complex of its kind in Old Bavaria. The Silver Madonna is considered a unique work of outstanding material and cultural significance in the Diocese of Passau. Both give Kößlarn’s cultural scene a distinctive character.

Kößlarn’s harvest festival is more than 300 years old and takes place every year on the second Sunday in September. If this festival is important to your travel dates, check the current event information for the year in question.

Passau as a Broader Travel Destination

In Tittling, within the broader Passau travel destination, you’ll find the Bavarian Forest Open-Air Museum, one of Europe’s largest open-air museums. Visitors can explore more than 100 residential and agricultural buildings from the Bavarian Forest, dating from 1580 to 1890, across 20 hectares. The museum includes farmhouses, mills, sawmills, smithies, chapels and field monuments, as well as Germany’s oldest primary school, dating from 1666.

The Passau region is characterised by rivers, forests and thermal spas. Well-known thermal springs are located in Bad Füssing and Bad Griesbach. The region is also home to the Granite Adventure Hiking Trail around Hauzenberg and the Smuggler’s Trail in the Danube Pearls. The Haus am Strom Nature Experience Centre is located in the narrow Danube valley between Bavaria and Austria, downstream from Untergriesbach.

Ortenburg Castle Culture is an event series organised by the Friends of Ortenburg Castle. From April to December, it features musical events, cabaret performances, spooky nights at Ortenburg Castle, talks and guided tours. Check the dates for the relevant season if you’d like to plan your trip around an event.

To help you choose between focusing on Kößlarn and exploring additional attractions in the broader Passau destination, consider what matters most: would you like to focus primarily on Kößlarn’s hiking trails and cultural sights, or also include regional trails and events?

Discover more destinations: Sonnen, Vilshofen an der Donau, Breitenberg, Salzweg, Passau, Aidenbach, Windorf, Thyrnau

Back to the broader travel overview: Passau.