Difficulty: medium
Length: approx. 30 km (4.5 hours hike)
You start from the Hotel Rotwand in the direction of Laives to the Hotel Grüner Baum directly in front of the hiking trail. If you have a friendly request, you can also park your car there. The landlady can of course also provide very good information about the hike.
The old pilgrimage route no. 1 to Maria Weißenstein, the best-known place of pilgrimage in South Tyrol (visit to the Pope in 1988) begins at the Emmaus house (ex-Moser inn) at the entrance to the Brantental valley. During the ascent, which is always accompanied by stations of the cross, you have a beautiful view of the South Tyrolean lowlands. At approx. 700 m the path turns into the Brantental at the 3rd station, while an unmarked path to the Gschlößlerhof u. leads back to the pilgrimage path via the Buchnerhof. After a two-hour hike from Laives, you reach the former Gasthof Halbweg (derelict courtyard) (967m). At the XI.Kreuzwegstation, a path branches off, which leads through the forest up to the picturesque village of Petersberg, which can be reached in 3.5 hours from Laives. If you stay on path no.1, you will reach the former inn after 15 minutes Lively (three-quarter way) u. Immediately afterwards on the Deutschnofen-Petersberg road. After crossing the road, the path climbs moderately upwards to the pilgrimage site “Maria Weißenstein” (1521 m), where you can enjoy a wonderful view of the South Tyrolean Dolomites down into the Bozen valley.
