Kitzlochklamm

The Kitzlochklamm is a narrow gorge carved by the Rauriser Ache where it leaves the Rauris valley and joins the Salzach. It lies on the border between the villages of Taxenbach and Lend in Salzburg province. The gorge runs roughly north–south for about 1.5 kilometres and drops more than 100 metres. The gorge is protected as a natural monument for its steep walls of metamorphic limestone and schist. The river squeezes through the tightest section at the Kitzloch before widening, then narrows again where a side stream plunges in as a waterfall. The gorge ends near Taxenbach where the Rauriser Ache meets the Salzach. A secure path winds through the gorge, rebuilt in 2008 after earlier damage. Walkers pass an old miners’ adit, the remains of a hermit’s cell and a blocked-off stalactite cave. At the upper end a memorial recalls a 1974 bridge collapse that killed eight schoolgirls. Three fixed-rope routes now branch off the main path, ranging from moderate to very difficult. Two long-distance trails, the Zentralalpenweg and the Rupertiweg, cross the gorge on their way across the Alps.