Where the wild waters of the Salza and Enns meet the mighty rock faces of the Gesäuse mountains, the only national park in Styria's largest nature park, and the thousand-year old culture of the Admont Abbey meets the also old folk culture: that's the Gesäuse.
Everyone finds their own Gesäuse! Some find it in nature, which is quite emphasised in the Gesäuse. It's not without reason that there is a national park and nature park here close together. The national park stands for strictly protected and untouched wilderness. The nature park, on the other hand, is synonymous with nature-oriented life and economic activity and is also a UNESCO Geopark.
The Gesäuse, however, is also called the University of Mountaineering. Others find their sporty Gesäuse in the wild water and steep rock of these two natural gems. The University of Mountaineering is at home here, not as a university with tuition fees, but rather as a term for almost 150 years of alpinism. Of course, there is always a perfectly prepared path on every mountain for moderate and family hikes. With over 500 kilometres of hiking trails and numerous shelters, pleasure hiking is emphasised in the Gesäuse. Highlights of the hiking offer are surely the stages of the Hiking Route From the Glacier to the Wine, which leads from the Dachstein glacier to wine country, as well as the Gesäuse cabin round-trip hike. And if you want to get on a bike, you're in just the right place on the Enns Cycling Path, accompanied by white water and steep rock faces.
Speaking of water: white water in its purest form can be found in the Gesäuse. The wild and untamed Enns and Salza rivers flow at the feet of the mighty limestone peaks. The Gesäuse got its name from the roaring and thundering of the river Enns. A white water experience awaits you in the white water of these two unspoiled natural rivers, which cannot be found anywhere else in Austria in this purest form.
The section of the Hiking Route From the Glacier to the Wine remains true to the motto of the national park "White water, steep rock". The entrance is accompanied by outstanding cultural treasures, such as Strechau Castle and the Admont Abbey. Then we go uphill into the southern part of the national park to legendary cabins such as the Mödlinger Hütte or the Heßhütte in order to ultimately end up in the mountaineering village of Johnsbach at the famous mountaineering cemetery. We also get plenty of culture from the transition from the Gesäuse to the Eisenerz Alps and the Hochschwab, where the Erzberg finally greets us.
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