Drava from Lake Silbersee to Rosegg

Level of difficulty 2 |  Gastronomy 1 |  Length 8.2 km |  Time 2 - 3 hours

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Because there are no longer any ships navigating on this section of the Drava, you can enjoy floodplain landscapes, birdsong and hidden paddling gems in a highly relaxed manner. 

General information

• Carinthia Card 
• Silbersee Wikipedia 
• Villach Wikipedia
• Villach tourist information
• Rosegg Wikipedia
• Rosental tourist information
• Tour Video
• Climate
• Wind, Wellen , Wetter

Navigation rules

The nature reserve Biotop Föderlach may not be entered outside of the official paths. This means you are not allowed to SUP between the reeds. In the biotope area it is best not to paddle to the left bank at all.

If you are planning a detour to the Drava river loop, please do not linger for too long in the transition area between the river loop and the river. Many species of birds that are used to peace and quiet nest there.

Pollution of any kind, camping and open fires as well as excessive noise are also prohibited on the Drava river loop.

Dangers and risks

Always check the water (water level, flow rate) beforehand and only go paddling on the Drava in good weather conditions! In the area of ​​the dam at the end of the tour and in the area of ​​the bridges, extra caution is required. In other words: keep a sufficient distance from the pillars and the weir. 

Anyone paddling on the Drava in spring should expect very cold meltwater. The melting snow can also cause an increased current due to the additional water.

When boarding at the Lake Silbersee boat landing stage, please be careful not to block the cycle path.

The concrete boat ramp at Lake Silbesee (tour start) ends abruptly in the water, there is a significant difference in height at the edge. Be careful not to step into the void, which could cause you to unexpectedly fall into the water and injure yourself.

Especially along the second half of the tour (approx. from St. Niklas) there are always shallow shore sections where you can suddenly get stuck and fall into the water if you overlook the shallows.

Directions

Coming from the center of Villach by car, take the St. Magdalener Straße at the state hospital LKH Villach, drive east (out of town) in the direction of St. Magdalen and after 1.5 km take the 2nd exit at the roundabout (at the red bridge aka the Friedensbrücke). After another 650 m, turn sharp left into Chemiestrasse. This becomes Ulricher Straße and you drive straight ahead for 1.7 km until you reach the junction to Silbersee (on the right). There is a parking lot by the access road (Silberseestraße) and at its end.

The bus line 3 leaves from the main train station in Villach and stops at the penultimate station at Silbersee (12th stop). From the Silbersee bus stop it is about 1000 m on foot to the boat pier.

National and international bus, train and flight connections can be found via the comparison portals Omio, Busbud as well as RailEurope. If you arrive by plane, you will either land in Klagenfurt or in Ljubljana.

Parking

There are two parking lots at the lake, which are chargeable during the bathing season. One of them is at the beginning of the access road on the western shore of the lake (about 630 m to the water). The other is at the end of the access road in front of the Silbersee Ranch (about 150 m to the entrance). Please do not park on the side of the road!

There is a free parking lot under the Rosegg – St. Martin power station, which is connected to the cycle path on the dam wall via a gravel path.

Anyone who does not have a car for shuttling will have to be picked up either at this car park or at the entrance to the power plant. The return journey by bus would be the last and most inconvenient alternative.

Swimming

Lake Silbersee is one of the most popular bathing lakes in Villach and it is accessible free of charge. In addition to extensive sunbathing areas and two beach bars (Silbersee Lido, Silbersee Ranch), you will also find beach volleyball and tennis courts, a callisthenics park, table football and trampolines. The artificial gravel pond covers an area of 8.4 hectares and has a maximum depth of 7 m. Of course, it is also ideal for making your first SUP attempts.

In midsummer, when the air is around 30°C, you can expect water temperatures of around 15°C outside of dammed areas of the Drava. So it's great for cooling off. However, there are no special bathing spots along the banks along this stretch of the river. But paddlers can jump from the SUP into the water at any time if the gentle flow allows it.

Lake Faak is located just a few kilometers south of the Drava and, as one of the most popular bathing lakes in Carinthia, offers a variety of great bathing spots.

Not to be forgotten is, of course, the Kärnten Therme (Carinthia Thermal Baths) in Warmbad near Villach, which offers year-round bathing fun both indoors and outdoors.

Tour

From the boat dock at Lake Silbersee to the Rosegg – St. Martin power station.

Length

8.2 km

Time

2 - 3 hours

Start and landing

Start: at the boat dock at Lake Silbersee.
Landing: on the right in front of the Rosegg – St. Martin power station.

SUP rental

Draupaddelweg
Dahlienweg 14, 9161 Maria Rain
Phone +43 (0)463 2032 30100

Fels & Wasser
Flurweg 20, 9524 Villach
Phone +43 (0)650 6161327

Click&Paddle Faak
Self-service machine at the reed meander
Discount code “SUPAtlas” for 20% discount
Bachstraße, 9583 Faak

SUP2GETHER
Mobile SUP rental
Am Birkengrund 26, 9073 Klagenfurt
Phone +43 (0)463 20323020

Gentle SUPing in the relaxation zone

It is already known that the Drava is very good for paddling in the Villach area. The ship dock in the area of ​​the Silbersee Ranch is the ideal starting point for a river tour heading east, especially as there is a paid parking lot and enough space to prepare for the tour. When you have your SUP in hand, please be careful not to obstruct any cyclists or pedestrians on the cycle path.

Although the tour starts at a dock, you no longer have to evade ships here, because the excursion boat has not been travelling on the Drava since 2020. So it remains nice and quiet along the entire route, and the few boat docks along the way can now be seen as relics from another time. Who knows whether the Drava ship will experience a renaissance in Villach at some point.

For us, it is at least a déjà vu to be paddling on this river again, which enchants us today with its light turquoise and murky water. The water level of about 600 cm still seems to be elevated due to the very rainy June, which in turn gives us more flow speed.

Immediately after setting off, we see clouds of smoke and dust in the hills in front of us. They are probably mining rock again at the gravel works opposite the lake. We have barely left this unusual sight behind us when the river takes us into its first left turn, where we immediately marvel at the reed belt on the left bank. Behind it are a lot of private houses, and we think out loud how great it would be to have a house with access to the water here. You could open a great bar and a SUP rental shop to bring the leisurely river closer to people.

But we don't dwell on such visions for too long, because after the motorway bridge a real river pearl awaits us. The ignorant would now simply paddle under the bridge and enjoy the beautiful nature all around. That's fine too. But not good enough for us, so we aim straight for a narrow waterway through the reeds. Behind it is a beautiful SUP area, namely the Drava river loop under the Wernberg Castle. Even if you don't want to paddle the entire loop, you should at least take a quick look behind the reeds and treat yourself to a few magical moments in this quiet zone.

Then we head back out onto the river, where we gently drift on the light current. On both banks we only see the reeds tilting their heads to the side in the light wind. Its subtle rustling is the only sound in our ears, conveying audible silence, so to speak. We get used to it immediately and let this ambience work its magic on us without saying a word. How little do men actually need when they discover their true nature out here.

The next bridge is already in sight, and the water flow is starting to slow down. It is the beginning of the reservoir zone in front of the Rosegg power station, which is still about four kilometers away from us. Anyone who crosses the bridge here is either coming from or going to Lake Faak, which has already given us several SUP highlights in the past. After the bridge, the Föderlach biotope begins on the left bank. It is a nature reserve founded in 2006 with 10 hectares of shallow water and home to around 120 species of birds. Although there is a viewing and bird watching point there, you are not allowed to take the small waterways by SUP. Pedestrians, however, are allowed.

A little further on, we settle down in a shady bay to close our eyes for a few minutes and take a power nap on our SUPs. The fins are stuck firmly in the clay soil, so we don't drift away during the nap. Finally, we escape the air temperature of over 30° C and after ten minutes we practically force ourselves to get back on the board and continue paddling through the summer heat.

After another sharp river bend to the right, we can already see the dam of the Rosegg power station. In autumn I was caught in a hailstorm of the highest order just a few hundred metres from my destination at the dam. Unprotected on the open water, you quickly learn to accelerate in such a situation. So, especially after long periods of hot weather, always expect sudden thunderstorms, even if it is not mentioned in the weather forecast!

Today we are more concerned with the extremely strong sunlight, but it also puts a smile on our faces and we paddle contentedly towards the end of this tour. There are a few exit points to the left of the power station through the bushes and up to a field path, but we decide to go to the right bank. If you want to land at the official landing point of the so-called Drava paddling trail on the left, you have to walk a few hundred meters to the weir. If you exit the river on its right bank you will see a ramp leading to a footpath, which in turn leads to the power station.

Anyone who is standing in the area of ​​the dam with their board in hand can either be picked up at the entrance to the power station or there is a shuttle car waiting at the free parking lot on the other side. If both options fail, the only option left is to return by bus from the St.Martin/Drau Wehranlage stop. Bus line 5196 runs daily between Villach and Velden.

Alternative: From the power station you could get into the Rosegg river loop and paddle further along the Drava. Unfortunately, this is prohibited and therefore not an option. If you still have energy, you can paddle the dam zone back towards St. Niklas and get out at the former ship dock, which is also an exit point of the Drava paddling trail.

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