Untersulzbachtal

The Untersulzbachtal is a side valley running north-north-west from the Salzach in Salzburg’s Pinzgau region. It is uninhabited and belongs to the cadastral district of Sulzau in Neukirchen. The valley is the third of the Tauern valleys that cut southward into the main Alpine ridge after the Krimmler Achental and Obersulzbachtal. It stretches for about twelve kilometres and is a classic glacier-carved trough valley with steep flanks marked by scree gullies. The valley is heavily wooded in its lower reaches and becomes high-alpine above the Stockeralpe at 1,265 metres. There the Untersulzbachkees glacier descends from the peaks of the Grossvenediger and Hohe Fürleg, and the Kleinvenediger dominates the scene. Almost pathless and wild, the valley ends at the Zwischensulzbachtaltörl pass leading to the Kürsingerhütte. Near the valley mouth the Untersulzbachfall waterfall is visible from the Salzach valley floor, and a footpath gives close-up views of its cascades. Part of the Hohe Tauern National Park, the inner valley is a strict nature reserve covering altitudes from roughly 1,700 to 3,243 metres. All stages of plant communities from subalpine conifer forests to the nival zone appear here in natural sequence. The area also serves as a reintroduction zone for two bearded vultures and has been internationally recognised as a wilderness area since 2019. Above the valley floor the Knappenwand overlooks a former copper mine, and the Bettlersteig trail links the Untersulzbachtal with the Obersulzbachtal.