Grossglockner Road (Austria)
N 47° 04.522 E 012° 45.047
33T E 329245 N 5215994
Since 1935 the Grossglockner Road has played host to more than 50 million visitors. It is the most famous of all European alpine roads and terminates at the highest mountain and the largest glacier in Austria, the Grossglockner (3798 m).
Waymark Code: WM72MH
Location: Salzburg, Austria
Date Posted: 08/24/2009
Views: 52
Großglockner Hochalpenstraße (The Grossglockner High Alpine Road) is the most famous road crossing the East Alps, leading directly to the heart of the Hohe Tauern National Park, to the highest mountain in Austria - Grossglockner (3 798 m) and to the Pasterze Glacier. On 48 kilometers of panoramic road with 36 hairpin bends, ascending to 2 504 meters, motorists cross a unique alpine landscape brimming with flowering grasslands, fragrant forests, mighty rock and eternal ice to the foot of the Grossglockner.
In addition to the mountain landscape, the tradition, culture and history of the Grossglockner High Alpine Road are equally amazing: historic finds prove that people have crossed the Alps at this point for three thousand, five hundred years. In 1856 Emperor Franz Josef wandered to a point subsequently known as "Kaiser Franz Josefs Höhe."
Having arrived at this point, you will be standing directly in front of the Grossglockner with a view of the longest glacier in the East Alps, the Pasterze Glacier. Marmots cavort in close proximity and with a little luck you will be able to observe the powerful ibex.