Raurisertal

The Rauris valley lies in Salzburg province, where the Rauriser Ache river carves a broad upland trough between the Fusch valley to the west and the Gastein valley to the east. It opens into the Salzach valley after the Kitzloch gorge, with the village of Rauris marking its main settlement. The lower valley stretches from Taxenbach to Wörth, while the upper section above Wörth is called the Hüttwinkl valley and ends at Kolm-Saigurn. Gold mining shaped the upper valley for centuries, and the cliffs still shelter a refuge for large birds. Bartgeier released from Salzburg’s Hellbrunn zoo returned to traditional roosts on the Moosenwand and Rote Wand ridges. A WWF observation post near the Bräualm alpine pasture monitors returning lammergeiers, eagles and vultures, part of a reintroduction scheme that began in 1986 and saw more than thirty birds set free by 1999. The Seidlwinkl valley branches off near Wörth, where an old Roman road once crossed the Mittertörl pass before the Glockner road took its traffic. At about 1 530 metres stands the Rauriser Tauernhaus, a medieval wayfarers’ refuge for pack-animal trains. South of Bucheben the Hüttwinkl stream meets the Krumlbach, and the side valley of Krumltal holds another WWF station at roughly 1 600 metres. In March 2010 the first wild-born lammergeier chick was spotted in the Krumltal, proving the birds have re-established themselves in the Hohe Tauern.