Obertraun - Bad Aussee

Koppental Trail (study trail)

The 10km long trail leads from Obertraun to Bad Aussee through the romantic Koppen valley. Total walking time is around 3 hours. You will need sturdy walking shoes. There is an opportunity to stop off for refreshments in the Koppental valley.

The Facts

Travel to Bad Aussee by train from either the "Obertraun Koppenbruellerhoehle" stop or the "Obertraun Dachsteinhoehlen" railway station. Here we join a forest track which runs adjacent to the River Trau and the railway line. This brings us after about 1.8km to the so-called "Exit" where we approach the neighbourhood of Sarstein. To do this we need to cross the Traun and taking the gently ascending path. In Sarstein itself there are 2 places where you can buy refreshments. After a short stretch through this romantic part of Aussee we reach a forest track. Here we make our way up to a mountain hut (the "Vogelhuette") and now and again we get a lovely view of the Krippenstein. The hut provides shelter when necessary. At this point we have already completed half of the walk. From here we bear left and walk down towards the Traun again. We cross the river via a newly built swing bridge. What now lies before us is 3.5 km of what is the most wildly romantic part of this new trail. This has been built on the old railway embankment which runs alongside the babbling Traun. The embankment was washed away by flooding in 1897 and then built up subsequently. We pass through the old railway tunnel which was the only defence against these water torrents and arrive at the rugged Koppenbruellerhoehle (caves). These limestone, water-bearing caves with stalactites and stalagmites are open from the end of April to the end of September. There are guided tours daily from 10am to 4pm. Now we are only 10 minutes' walk from the end of the actual Koppental trail, but there is an opportunity to take a diversion to the idyllically situated Kopppenwinkelsee (lake) and then to the Koppenwinkalm (mountain pasture). This is a round trip of around half an hour. The usual route (about 4km long), however, takes us back to our starting point (Obertraun Dachsteinhoehlen station). For those who wish to extend this comfortable, half day walking tour a little further there it is possible to follow the well-known, 10 km trail along the eastern shore of the Hallstatt lake to Steeg.

Ferienregion Dachstein-Salzkammergut
Tourismusverband Inneres Salzkammergut
Geschäftsstelle Obertraun

Nr. 180, 4831 Obertraun
Tel.: +43 (0)6131 351

e-Mail: obertraun@dachstein-salzkammergut.at
Web: http://www.oberoesterreich.at/obertraun