R 16 Salzatal bike path

The Salza is generally considered one of the most beautiful whitewater rivers in the Eastern Alps, as it leads through romantic gorges and offers crystal clear water. A unique feature of the Salza Valley is certainly its - in contrast to other river valleys - extremely sparse population and the impressive landscape (Hochschwabnordseite).The Salza River used to be a means of timber transport for rafting and is now popular for hearty rafting tours.

Mariazell with its basilica is an ideal starting point for the tour, known as a place of spirituality and a spiritual and cultural center.In Gußwerk you turn right and reach Weichselboden, where you arrive at the northern Hochschwab massif. You pass by a reservoir with its huge Precenyklause, a barrier wall where in the past a lot of wood was drifted.

Past the Kläfferquelle to Wildalpen in the Styrian Salzatal. Wildalpen is the catchment and source area of the Second Vienna High Spring Water Pipeline. A visit to the HochQuellenWasser museum in Wildalpen is very rewarding. You can cycle past the parish and pilgrimage church Wildalpen / Barbarakirche. There is also a good bike connection possibility in Wildalpen!

Via Fachwerk you ride to Palfau, where you turn left to Gams near Hieflau. The GeoPfad Gams shows all that is best experienced here in nature.You can also plan a visit to the Kraushöhle a natural monument and Austria's only gypsum crystal cave,We are now in the Gesäuse National Park a realm of water, forest and rock. The Gesaeuse is a natural paradise with rich floodplain forests, alpine pastures, steep mountain flanks and is therefore also an Eldorado for mountaineers and climbers. Between Palfau and Gams, in the municipality of Landl, wonderful views of the mighty Buchstein massif appear again and again. The end point of the tour would be in Mooslandl the recreation village with leisure park and bathing lake arrive. Who still has desire and love, drives still further to Großreifling where there is the 1st Austrian Forestry Museum Silvanum to visit or extends the bike tour in the Gesäuse National Park.