Seebach Stream & Lake Ossiach

Level of difficulty 2 |  Gastronomy 3 |  Length 4 km |  Time 50 - 70 minutes

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It doesn't always have to be the lake. The Seebach Stream, which drains Lake Ossiach, is a good example of the fact that there is a lot to discover away from the main body of water. The hidden waterway carries paddlers on a gentle tour between small lake cottages and beautiful residences and is not short on natural attractions either.

General information

• Carinthia Card
• Lake Ossiach Wikipedia
• Lake Ossiach tourist information
• Carinthia tourist information
• Climate
• Wind, waves, weather
  

Navigation rules

The Seebach Stream is a popular swimming spot for local residents. Paddlers also enjoy relaxing in the calm waters.

In summer the lake is full of watercraft (excursion boats, motorboats, sailing boats, etc.) and windsurfers. Keep your distance accordingly!

In addition, several areas of the lake are under landscape or nature conservation:

• Tiebel estuary nature reserve
• Jammernspitz nature reserve
• Meerspitz nature reserve
• Ossiacher See-Westbucht nature reserve
• Landscape protection area Ossiacher See-Ost
• Landscape protection area Ossiacher See-West
• Bodensdorf conservation area

Dangers and risks

Towards the south (towards the river Drava), the Seebach Stream develops an ever-stronger current, which at a certain point can no longer be paddled upstream. Turn back in good time (after max. 300–400 m below the tour start)!

The area where the current slowly increases has only a low water level (in many places it is no more than knee-high). When paddling, pay close attention so your fins and paddle blades don't hit the stony ground!

Lake Ossiach is sometimes heavily trafficked and requires appropriate safety distances.

Directions

By car, take the Ossiacher Zeile from the center of Villach in a northerly direction and stay on track towards Lake Wörthersee. ATTENTION: Do not turn right towards Lake Ossiacher See, this would be a detour! Continue, turn right at Hagebau Mössler Baustoffhandel (hardware store) and after about 350 m take the loop to the left (underpass) onto Hauptschulstraße.

At the level of the hardware store it becomes Ossiacher Straße, which you always follow straight ahead. Look out for the St. Andrä elementary school on the right, followed by the Pizzeria Jagersberg. About 500 m after the pizzeria, turn left into a junction with Ossiacher Straße, which is more like a dirt road. After the small bridge over the Seebach Stream you can park on the side of the road

The regional bus connections are also optimal, as there is a bus stop on the main road not far from the access to the water. From there it's only a 250 m walk to the water.

If you are traveling from further away, you will find plenty of bus, train and flight connections to Villach or Klagenfurt (nearest airport) online. Once you're in Villach, you can of course also rent an e-scooter to get to Lake Ossiach.

Parking

On Ossiacher Strasse, after crossing the small bridge, you can park your car on the roadside. Please note that parking is limited!

Swimming

Lake Ossiach is one of Carinthia's largest lakes and is a popular bathing lake with temperature peaks of up to 26° C. Since access to the lake is mostly private, there are hardly any freely accessible bathing opportunities. But therefore you will find enough lidos and accommodations with lake access.

Camping Bad Ossiacher See
Seeuferstrasse 109, 9520 Annenheim
Phone +43 (0)4248 2757

Strandbad Christa
Seeuferstrasse 85, 9520 Annenheim

Seebad St. Andrä (free lake access)
Ossiachersee, 9523 Villach
Phone +43 (0)664 4109569

Tour

From the bridge on Ossiacher Straße go north towards Lake Ossiach. On the lake paddle to the Hotel Robinson Landskron and back again.

Length

4 km

Time

50 - 70 minutes

Start and landing

At the small bridge in Ossiacher Straße.

SUP rental

SUP2GETHER
Mobile SUP rental & SUP stations at Lake Wörthersee
Am Birkengrund 26, 9073 Klagenfurt
Phone +43 (0)463 2032 3020

Paddelhaus
Panoramaweg 6, 9520 Annenheim
Phone +43 (0)678 1252141

Surf and sailing school Annenheim
Seeuferstrasse 107, 9520 Annenheim
Phone +43 (0)650 331 8000

Click&Paddl Ossiacher See
Self-service machine by the free lake access
Seebad St. Andrä am Ossiacher See
Discount code “SUPAtlas” for 20% discount

Strandbad Laggner
Stramweg 3. 9552 Steindorf

On the hidden waterway

You don't necessarily associate pleasant things with a drain. It's a good thing that these necessary evils are usually hidden anyway and set up under the surface. The outflow of Lake Ossiach - the Seebach Stream - is also not easy to see at first glance and even has to be looked for a little more closely on aerial photos. On the other hand, the Seebach, which drains the Ossiacher See to the south, has beautiful associations.

We embark on a dreamy discovery tour which will lead us to the elongated Lake Ossiach and discover the many faces of life on the water. We choose to start the tour at the narrow junction of the long Ossiacher Straße, which runs at right angles to the freeway A 10 Tauernautobahn. If you are coming along Ossiacher Straße from the north, look out for its right turn, if you are coming from the south, look out for its left turn.

The best way to orient yourself is to look at the power lines running across the street at this point. A small bridge leads over the Seebach Stream, and we park our car just behind it on the side of the road. You can enter the water from either side of the bridge: One side runs an easily accessible hill right along and under the bridge. Diagonally opposite, you can reach the water in a shorter way, but via small rocks.

Since we are relatively far away from the lake here, the Seebach has already picked up a little current, and we use this fact to let the water gently drift us south. We start paddling straight under the bridge of the A 10 motorway and we then dive into a dreamy waterway with cute little houses and boat huts, beautiful weekend homes and trees, which spread out above the water like a natural roof to provide shade.

The crystal clear water lets us see the stones and plants on the ground below us. In many places it is only knee-deep anyway and that allows paddlers to follow the spectacle of the fish a little. After all, tench, eel and rudd as well as carp, zander and perch romp around here in the lake's area.

As the current is constantly increasing, we unfortunately cannot continue paddling to the end of the creek (which flows into the Drava River), especially since at a certain point it becomes impossible to paddle back upstream. We therefore advise you to make a U-turn no later than three to four hundred meters after the start, even if it seems tempting to let yourself drift further. On the other hand, some residents use the shallow stream with its still passable current as a small circulatory activation: Simply wade barefoot (good for the nervous system) against the current and thus gently strengthen your muscles.

Meanwhile, our muscles are strengthened by the increased paddle frequency that is needed here to get back into the calmer water and to paddle past the bridge towards the lake. In addition to dogs swimming and sitting on jetties, you can also enjoy the great view up to the ruins of Landskron Castle, which is not only widely known for its bird of prey show, but also for the free-roaming macaques.

The water is almost as warm as the air and one seriously wonders why the residents don't take cold showers instead of cooling off in the Seebach Stream almost in vain. Here you are generally on first name terms, whether among water sports enthusiasts or having small talk with unknown onlookers on their boardwalks. This is probably what is meant when it says: Carinthia - vacation among friends.

The further we paddle, the wider the stream becomes, and it doesn't take long before we glide under Ossiacher Straße. But beware! You have to duck your head for a moment or paddle under the bridge while kneeling. There is always something going on at these waterfront properties during weekends. A small barbecue party in the garden here, kids bridge jumping into the water there or paddlers just getting ready for a paddle tour. The closer we get to the lake, the better the view of the surrounding mountains - on the left the almost 1900-meter high Gerlitzen Alpe, on the right the Ossiacher Tauern.

A little later, in a small delta, we paddle out of the Seebach into the expansive Lake Ossiach. On the left the reed landscape, on the right small private properties and in front of us the big blue expanse where the sky merges with the water on the horizon. The small but nice tour takes us to the bay in front of the Robinson Club Landskron, which accommodates holidaymakers with Carinthian hospitality all year round.

The sailing boats anchored in front of it give the whole ambience a Mediterranean flair, and we stop for a moment to observe the hustle and bustle on the hotel terrace and in the water. Further out in the middle of the lake there s is a wooden bathing island, which would of course also be an ideal spot for a break. We paddle towards it in a wide arc and then further towards the reed belt, which makes up most of the east bank. It goes without saying that we keep a respectful distance of several meters and slowly paddle back onto the little creek.

Once more, we immerse ourselves in the maritime atmosphere of the lake outlet and let everything sink in again, while we duck our heads one last time under the small bridge and paddle along the last turns. It was fun and we will definitely be back. But then we'll certainly go further out on the lake. With its size, there are still enough interesting tours that will come to mind.

Alternative: If you have to rent a low-priced hardboard via Click&Paddel and want to save a whopping 20% on your booking with the discount code "SUPAtlas", start at the Seebad public bath in St. Andrä am Ossiacher See, where the Click&Paddle self-service machine is located. From there you paddle in the opposite direction, i.e. to the left towards the Robinson Club and on to the Seebach Stream.

Then the route to the starting point as described above and back is almost exactly six kilometers long.

Find this and many other SUP tours on Carinthian waters in the SUP Guide Carinthia.