The Mountain World of the Hohe Tauern
The Hohe Tauern is a high-peaks region in the central Austrian Alps. It is a mountain chain which extends for some 120 kilometres and lies at the geographic centre of the Eastern Alps. Austria’ highest mountain, the Grossglockner (elev. 3,798 metres), is also part of the Hohe Tauern. But that is far from all: With the Hafner Group, the Hohe Tauern also encompasses the easternmost 3,000-metre peaks in the Alps.
The Hohe Tauern actually extend out across three Austrian provinces, Tyrol, Salzburg and Carinthia - and this also is the case for the Hohe Tauern National Park, which was established in 1981 and has been internationally recognised as a national park since 2006.
The National Park does not occupy an area identical with the Tauern region itself. It lies in the heart of the Hohe Tauern and, spanning 1,836 square kilometres, is the largest of Austria’s six total national parks. The nature sanctuary is divided between a core zone and an outer zone. Tourism is focused on the outer zone and has only minimally increased since the founding of the National Park.
The geology of the Hohe Tauern is quite unique and responsible for the rich variety in the region’s landscapes: We find vertical rock walls along with gentle grass domes and high moors. Hikers in the Hohe Tauern will discover glaciers, countless mountain tarns, beloved alpine pastures and forests where you will encounter practically no one. Also enticing are the many gorges and ravines; the best-known of these are perhaps the Liechtenstein, Gastein and Kitzloch Gorges.
The ice line of the Hohe Tauern runs between around 2700 and 2900 metres. You will find more information about attractive hikes and famous excursion destinations in the articles about Gastein Alpine Huts, the Salzburger Almenweg and Lift Hikes in the Gastein Valley.
