Golden autumn in the mountains: you have to see these three gorges in the Alps
Angled rock faces, roaring mountain streams, bizarre pools and wafts of mist: gorges and gorges have always had a special fascination for people. We show the three most beautiful gorges in the Alps.
You don't have to be an extreme climber like the Bavarian “Huber Buam” Thomas and Alexander to experience the thrill of a gorge tour. Fortunately, there are a number of gorges and mountain gorges in the Alps that can be hiked without any mountaineering qualifications.
Yes, you heard that right: Even hikers with little alpine experience and families with children can move through the following three spectacular alpine gorges. Because there are often climbing systems and bridges built into the rocks and over deep valleys, which offer breathtaking views of the abyss – adrenaline rushes and adventure feeling included. Sturdy shoes with non-slip soles and a rain jacket are a must when visiting the narrow gorges at any time of the year, because water is constantly dripping and splashing from the rock faces.
1. Breitachklamm, Allgäu Alps
In Tiefenbach near Oberstdorf the superlatives come thick and fast: The Breitachklamm is considered the deepest and most imposing rocky gorge in Central Europe and one of the most beautiful geotopes in Bavaria. That's a lot of advance praise. You just have to follow the Breitach coming from the Austrian Kleinwalsertal to pause, be silent and nod, overwhelmed.
The more rain has fallen, the more impressive the water rushes through the gorge
The reasons: The rocks drop vertically up to 100 meters deep, sometimes they form overhanging walls, sometimes faces made of stone. Below, the white spray splashes from the roaring water. The Breitach thunders over rock banks, gurgles in deep pools and sprays fine droplets with which the light plays its games. If it rained before, visitors to the gorge can look forward to it. Because the water rushes through the gorge all the more impressively. Well-developed hiking trails lead for a good one kilometer in the direction of the rock fall. There are different route variants: from one to two and a half hours, from easy to medium difficulty.
"Masterpiece of divine creativity"
Developing the Breitachklamm was not at all easy. The Tiefenbach pastor Johannes Schiebel saw the gorge, which was inaccessible until 1904, not as the work of the devil, but as a “masterpiece of divine creativity”. The cleric, equipped with mountaineering talent, wanted to create a source of income for the poor population. To do this, he hung himself on a hemp rope and explored the gorge, which for him was a “natural monument of wild beauty”.
For a year 20 men blasted holes in the rocks with breakneck hard labor with gunpowder and dynamite. To do this, they were let down on a long rope, set the fuse on fire and had to be pulled up again in a hurry – before the boulders could fly around their ears. But the effort was worth it. As early as 1922, 100,000 visitors made the pilgrimage to the spectacular gorge in Germany's southernmost municipality. This is now also possible in winter.
More information at www.breitachklamm.com
2. Partnach Gorge, Wetterstein Mountains
In Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Bavaria, at the foot of the Zugspitze, there is also one of the most spectacular mountain gorges: the Partnach Gorge. The narrow gorge has been accessible to tourists for more than 100 years. At that time, a steel suspension bridge was built into the rocks at a height of 70 meters, a tunnel and a path along the Partnach torrent. Today two safe paths lead through the 700 meter long and 80 meter deep gorge with its wild waterfalls, rapids, pools and bizarre rock formations.
Adventure or easy walk?
Those who do not suffer from vertigo can climb 70 meters up the stairs. From up here you can see down into the narrow valley through which the milky-green Partnach flows. A crossing of the suspension bridge that leads to the other side of the rocky gorge promises pure thrills. If that's too adventurous for you, you can choose the comfortable path along the water. This used to be used by woodworkers, foresters and hunters.
The special thing about the Partnach Gorge is not only that it was awarded a National Geotope by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research in 2006. As one of the few Alpine gorges, it is also open in winter and then appears as a glittering crystal world. In the cold season of the year, meter-long icicles hang from the rock walls, ice curtains shine in light blue and the Partnach carries ice floes with it.
More information at www.partnachklamm.eu
3. Wimbachklamm, Berchtesgaden Alps:
In the Berchtesgaden National Park there are two well-known mountain ranges up to 2,700 meters high: the Watzmann and the Hochkalter. Between these two giants, near the town of Ramsau, the Wimbachklamm was created. With a length of only 200 meters, the gorge is relatively short.
However, the erosion has left behind exciting relics: The shimmering of the different layers of rock plays a fascinating game with the visitor. Several fossils in the rock walls show that there must have been a sea here a long time ago. In 1843 the wood drift for the Berchtesgadener Saline was stopped, i.e. the transport of floating tree trunks on waterways. Then the footbridges for the Holzdrift were built into a hiking trail with bridges, so that tourists have been able to explore the Wimbachklamm since 1847.
For families with children
The wild and romantic natural spectacle of foaming water, crooked boulders, poisonous green moss growth and the constantly changing incidence of light has astonished every hiker ever since. The good thing about the compactness of the Wimbachklamm: The easy mountain hike leads over a massive climbing system and only takes a good half an hour. That is why the gorge is also suitable for children and people who do not want to exert themselves too much physically.
When it gets quiet at the end of the gorge, you step out into a wide high valley. The bizarre looking valley consists largely of rubble. The huge rubble stream is up to ten kilometers long and 300 meters wide. From here a forest path leads back to Ramsau to the parking lot or to the bus stop at the Wimbach bridge.
More information at www.berchtesgadener-land.com