Reedsee

The Reedsee lies high in the Hohe Tauern National Park, near Bad Gastein in Salzburg. It sits at 1,825 metres above sea level, cradled between peaks such as the Hüttenkogel and the Palfner Seekogel. A mountain stream, the Reedbach, flows through the lake on its way to the Kötschachbach. The lake covers 4.45 hectares and reaches a depth of 22 metres. A striking rock fissure, the Reedsee-Spalte, runs along the northern shore, plunging up to 26 metres. The Reedseehütte, a self-catering alpine hut, stands on the southern shore, run by the Bad Gastein section of the Austrian Alpine Club. The lake has drawn artists and walkers for centuries. In the late 19th century, painters like Anton Romako and Johann Varrone portrayed its clear waters. Emperor Franz Joseph’s family made an eleven-hour trek to the lake in 1889. The Austrian Alpine Club laid out a path to the Reedsee as early as 1883. A landscape protection area was created in 1960 and later enlarged, with the lake joining the National Park in 1983. In 2018 the Reedsee was chosen as one of Salzburg’s three candidates in the ORF series ‘Nine Places – Nine Treasures’. Visitors find a quiet, high-altitude lake ringed by pine and larch woods. Quillworts grow in the deep water while sedges fringe the north-western bog. Rare rotifers live in the mossy shallows. The Dr.-Hermann-Greinwald-Weg winds past the eastern shore, leading walkers towards the Palfner Scharte. The Reedseehütte offers a place to rest and sign the Alpine Club’s walking log. Birdwatchers may spot the mountain wagtail or the three-toed woodpecker around the lake.