Maria Ellend - Haslau

Starting point:
Maria Ellend, steeply downhill from the country road opposite the sewage treatment plant to the entrance of the national park.
There are hardly any parking options at the entrance to the national park.

First, you follow the narrow path along the steep slope. Already from early summer, you wander through a thicket of nettles, Japanese knotweed, and brambles, and from August onwards, their fruits can be enjoyed. You accompany an old arm of the river, where beavers have their feeding spots and kingfishers zip by. To the east, the watercourse widens. Herons, swans, and in winter various species of ducks populate it. Just before reaching the Danube, you cross a ditch that usually has water running through it, where deer and martens leave their tracks.

Further along, the route continues on the riverbank path along the Danube. In winter, it is usually very windy, but this is also a particularly good observation point for waterfowl. They prefer to stay at the opposite shallow shore. White-tailed eagles also circle repeatedly over this area. Then the path leaves the immediate bank again, and you continue walking on soft Danube sand until the Haslauer Traverse.