Schoppernau is the village where the Bregenzerwald starts to run out of valley. Beyond it the road climbs toward the Hochtannberg Pass, and the mountains that were polite and green in Egg and Bezau become taller and rockier. Houses are still clad in timber, fields are still steep and immaculately mown, but the sense of enclosure is stronger, and the big limestone walls of the Allgäu and Lechquellen mountains look down on the village from all sides.
The most famous son of the village is Franz Michael Felder, born here in 1839, a farmer who taught himself to read, wrote novels and essays in a time when few peasants did, and campaigned for cooperatives and rural reform. He died young, aged only thirty, and is remembered across Vorarlberg as a writer and reformer who gave the region a voice. His story is a quiet counterpoint to the glossy images of mountain tourism, and a small museum in the area keeps his memory alive.
Above the village, the Diedamskopf cable car carries walkers and mountain bikers to open slopes with views over the valley. The Bregenzerach, which runs alongside the road, is a young, clear river here, and in spring it runs fast with meltwater. The air smells of cut hay in summer and woodsmoke in autumn.
For riders, Schoppernau is a step on the way to something bigger. The road from here to Schröcken and the Hochtannberg Pass, about 1,670 metres, is a lovely, wide mountain road with bends that get progressively tighter, and then on to Warth and Lech am Arlberg, a famous ski resort. Beware of the winter: the Hochtannberg can close in heavy snow, and avalanche warnings in the spring are taken seriously. In summer the surface is generally good, but there are patches of repaired tarmac where the frost has bitten.
Schoppernau is small, with fewer than a thousand people, so do not rely on the village for fuel. Check the tank at Bezau or Egg, and if you are in doubt, remember that the nearest large town is far away and across a border. The inns here serve Alpine dairy dishes, including Käsknöpfle, little cheese dumplings, and a drink called Sauser, a young fermented fruit must, when it is in season. Leave a few minutes to listen to the cowbells. They carry well in this valley.