Warning: Table './sunshine_imh2/cache' is marked as crashed and should be repaired query: SELECT data, created, headers, expire, serialized FROM cache WHERE cid = 'variables' in /home/sunshine61/public_html/includes/database.mysqli.inc on line 128

Warning: Table './sunshine_imh2/cache' is marked as crashed and should be repaired query: UPDATE cache SET data = 'a:1314:{s:13:\"theme_default\";s:11:\"a3_atlantis\";s:13:\"filter_html_1\";s:1:\"1\";s:18:\"node_options_forum\";a:1:{i:0;s:6:\"status\";}s:18:\"drupal_private_key\";s:64:\"5ddf8335b212958291d21fab1076e409a463ed9256d2338c81821b5cf8821e86\";s:10:\"menu_masks\";a:33:{i:0;i:127;i:1;i:126;i:2;i:125;i:3;i:63;i:4;i:62;i:5;i:61;i:6;i:60;i:7;i:59;i:8;i:58;i:9;i:57;i:10;i:56;i:11;i:48;i:12;i:31;i:13;i:30;i:14;i:29;i:15;i:28;i:16;i:25;i:17;i:24;i:18;i:22;i:19;i:21;i:20;i:15;i:21;i:14;i:22;i:13;i:23;i:12;i:24;i:11;i:25;i:10;i:26;i:7;i:27;i:6;i:28;i:5;i:29;i:4;i:30;i:3;i:31;i:2;i:32;i:1;}s:12:\"install_task\";s:4:\"done\";s:13:\"menu_expanded\";a:1:{i:0;s:17:\"menu-taxonomymenu\";}s:9:\"site_name\";s:19:\"INDIAN CHIEF TRAVEL\";s:9:\"site_mail\"; in /home/sunshine61/public_html/includes/database.mysqli.inc on line 128

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/sunshine61/public_html/includes/database.mysqli.inc:128) in /home/sunshine61/public_html/includes/bootstrap.inc on line 636

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/sunshine61/public_html/includes/database.mysqli.inc:128) in /home/sunshine61/public_html/includes/bootstrap.inc on line 637

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/sunshine61/public_html/includes/database.mysqli.inc:128) in /home/sunshine61/public_html/includes/bootstrap.inc on line 638

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/sunshine61/public_html/includes/database.mysqli.inc:128) in /home/sunshine61/public_html/includes/bootstrap.inc on line 639
Höhe Tauern National Park, Austria - Höhe Tauern National Park Travel Guide - Indian Chief Travel
AUSTRIA  |  Zell am See & Kaprun, Austria Travel Guide
Thursday, March 28, 2024
images
4 Of 5

Höhe Tauern National Park

Höhe Tauern National Park, Austria (cc)
 

Höhe Tauern National Park

Central Europe’s largest national park has as its centerpiece the 3,798-m Grossglockner, Austria’s highest peak. The immense territory under the national park’s watchful care appears positively primeval, with jutting bare mountains, murky glacial run-offs, plus acres and acres of ice. In fact, approximately one-tenth of the enormous park is covered year-round in ice, a glacier bed some 30 m deep – and thickening at a rate of approximately one millimeter per year.

Visitors to this high-altitude wonderland are treated to what many consider Europe’s finest nature preserve, and it’s hard to argue. A habitat for Alpine species such as ibex, marmots, and the rare white-bearded vulture, the park also protects diverse flora that rebound each spring in a riot of color. Herds of mountain cattle call the park their summer home, too, and Alpine farmers use traditional techniques just as they have in centuries past. Two park attractions merit particular attention: First, the Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse, covered here; second, lovely Krimmler Falls.

Although the Höhe Tauern National Park can be accessed via several roads – and via several hundred footpaths – the most popular route through the park remains the spectacular Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse, or “Grossglockner High Alpine road” (otherwise labeled state road 107). The road runs south from Bruck and winds its way up past the lovely village of Fusch to the park entrance, where daytrippers pay an enormous fee for the privilege of driving in. (At last count, the fee was €26 per car per day; a fee as stunning as the landscape to which it opens access.)

Information in hand, visitors zigzag upwards in the shadow of the glowering mountain. Along the road are visitors’ centers, museums, lookout points, cafés, and nature trails – all worthwhile. Everyone should visit the Pasterze Glacier and heartier folk should venture backcountry to one of the park’s high Alpine huts. (Consult a ranger for trail and weather conditions.) Once outside of the park’s border, the road continues south toward Lienz and Italy.

Last updated March 2, 2012
Posted in   Austria  |  Zell am See & Kaprun
No votes yet
Explore the Destination
Amenities and Resources
  • Map
  • Weather Forecast
  • No significant clouds
    • Reported on:
      Thu, 03/28/2024 - 17:50
    No significant clouds Temperature: 4 °C
Trending Themes:

Guides to Popular Ski Resorts

  • Ischgl is a small mountain village turned hip ski resort, with massive appeal among the party-hearty young crowds. It is... Read More

  • Andorra la Vella is its own little world, and not just because it’s a 290-square-mile independent principality (a fifth the... Read More

  • Bariloche (officially San Carlos de Bariloche) is the place to be seen. It is to Argentina what Aspen is to the... Read More

  • Aspen is America's most famous ski resort. And that's an understatement. For, as a ski complex, Aspen is unsurpassed. Its... Read More

  • Zermatt is a small but glamorous mountain resort town, with a population of approximately 5,700. It is one of Switzerland's... Read More

  • St. Moritz is a glitzy, alpine resort town in the celebrated Engadin Valley of Switzerland, with huge notoriety as the... Read More

  • Lake Tahoe is the premier lake resort of America, and the largest alpine lake in all of North America. It is an absolutely... Read More

  • St. Anton, Sankt Anton am Arlberg in German, is Austria's premier ski-bum resort! It's actually a small village cum... Read More

  • Kitzbühel, a small, Tyrolian resort town in the Kitzbüheler Alps, comes with international renown and huge snob appeal, and... Read More

 

Copyright © 2010-2013 Indian Chief Travel Guides. Images tagged as (cc) are licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA license.