Craig Henderson Europe ‘23 Part 7 - Hallstatt Base Walks

18 August 2023 - Hallstatt, Austria; day prior to start of Hallstatt base walks

The choice of Hallstatt and the Salzkammergut region as the location for our next walk needs some explanation.

As a young backpacker I’d visited Salzburg. I went to Mozart’s birthplace and the fortress, did some Sound of Music stuff and ate too much chocolate. I doubt whether I knew that Salzburg translated to ‘Salt Castle’ and I certainly knew nothing about the contribution of salt to the wealth of Salzburg and the Habsburg empire.

The region south-east of Salzburg is called the Salzkammergut. That translates to ‘salt estates’. The name derives from the fact that, historically, the salt mines were owned by the Habsburg monarchy. The mines were productive and, during the period that salt was a very valuable commodity, generated huge wealth.

The Salzkammergut is a region of lakes, mountains and forests. As the salt mines were underground mines, with the salt rocks extracted via shafts driven deep into the mountains, their above-ground impact appears limited. Today, the Salzkammergut is cherished by Austrians as a scenically stunning outdoor playground.

Hallstatt is located in the Salzkammergut. It was established in the 1500’s as a base for the nearby salt mines. It’s perched on the edge of a lake hemmed in by towering mountains. Hallstatt was central to the area attracting World Heritage Site status in 1997.

So, Hallstatt makes a very appealing base for a series of day walks. Its surrounding mountains form part of the European Alps. The nearby Dachstein massif includes Dachstein itself at 2,996m and the Gosaukamm are reminiscent of Chamonix’s Aiguille Rouges.

19 August 2023 - Day 1 of Hallstatt base walks: Hallstatt - Echerntal valley - Salzwelten - Hallstatt (15 km; 4.5h)

This walk starts and finishes in Hallstatt. We get away early as it’s due to get to 30C today. Also, towards its end, the walk passes old salt mines that can be visited so we’re hoping to incorporate that into the day.

Hallstatt is at its best early in the morning on a fine day. The crowds have not yet arrived, the lake is a mirror and Hallstatt (lying on the west side of Hallstatt lake) is bathed in flattering morning light. As if Hallstatt needs assistance.

We walk south to Lahn which is a village adjoining Hallstatt containing the car parks, bus stations and supermarkets that Hallstatt happily lacks. From Lahn, our route heads away from the lake, up a narrow valley called Echerntal. This was a walk favoured by Empress Elisabeth in the mid 1800’s. She was a frequent visitor, as her husband, Emperor Franz Joseph, liked to keep an eye on his precious salt mines.

In 1865, Emperor Franz Joseph wrote about an excursion to Hallstatt in a letter to his mother: "The day before yesterday just Sissi and I had a lovely outing in magnificent weather.... After we had eaten we went to the Echerntal. The valley was superbly illuminated and of the freshest green; all that spoilt it were a number of halfwits, as always, and a new civilisation which is highly inappropriate in his beautiful region."

Gee, funny that the Emperor couldn’t get away from halfwits! And I wonder what he would have made of the tourism ‘embellishments’ to Hallstatt. We actually saw few others on this walk and most seemed quite civilised.

There’s a fun section of this walk for those who enjoy steep paths up rock faces. It’s called the Gangsteig and it’s basically a path that’s been carved into the valley wall. There are ropes and cables to hang on to so it’s manageable for most and gives you a taste of the mountaineer’s thrill.

When we hit tourism central at the salt mines we baulk at the idea of joining a queue and head straight back to Hallstatt lake for a swim. The water is very cold but it’s a great way to finish a walk.

20 August 2023 - Day 2 of Hallstatt base walks: Hallstatt train station - Obertraun - Winkl - Lahn (18 km; 5.5h)

Hallstatt railway station is on the other side of the lake to Hallstatt. Thus, if you arrive by train, you need to finish your journey with a 10 minute ferry ride across the lake. This is the best way to arrive in Hallstatt. It has some similarities to arriving in Venice by train and then boarding a vaporetto.

For the start of this walk you reverse the process and go back to the train station. From the station, you walk south down the eastern shore of Hallstatt lake towards Obertraun. Breaks in the forest give great views of Hallstatt and its background mountains. There are also some idyllic grassy swim spots in this stretch.

In the vicinity of the Obertraun railway station, pick up the walking tracks to the Koppenbruller cave (Koppenbrullerhohle). The cave is only a 10 minute detour but I decide to skip it as I plan to visit caves on tomorrow’s walk. I later regret this decision when I read about the rushing river that runs through the cave. Oh well, something for next time.

The route then wends its way through more pleasant forest and past the base station for the cable car up into the Dachstein region. That’s where I plan to go tomorrow.

The final stage of the route goes around the bottom of Hallstatt lake to Lahn and then Hallstatt. Unfortunately, you need to follow the main road for some of it (although there is a cycling/walking path). I concede this reduces the quality of the walk a tad. About 30 minutes’ walk out of Winkl there is a good trail that leads away from the road and the lake. I take this path which drops me into Lahn an hour or so later.

View from Hallstatt train station towards Hallstatt

21 August 2023 - Day 3 of Hallstatt base walks: Dachstein region (12 km; 3.5h)

The Dachstein massif is the gorilla of this region with Dachstein itself reaching 2,996m. You can get to about 2,100m via a cable car that starts just out of Obertraun. From there, numerous walks are on offer. Most of them offer views of Dachstein and its namesake glacier.

So that’s what I’m doing today. The Heilbronner Runwanderweg is the main walk I’ve chosen. It’s a three hour walk involving a net loss of a few hundred metres but finishing at a gondola that takes you back up to your starting position. What walker doesn’t look at that formula with relish!

The walk starts in a very rocky, harsh environment. There is little vegetation and the cable car/ski-lift infrastructure detracts. It’s another cloudless day and while the temperature at 10.30am is only 22C the sun feels brutal up here. The mountain views lift the tone.

I top up my water supply and head off. As with the two previous days, once I get a few minutes away from the tourist destination (ie, the cable-car station here), I’m on my own. It’s understandable here; the terrain and weather don’t scream out “let’s go walking”. But, actually, as you drop in altitude, low vegetation increases and then some decent trees appear.

I get to the end of the walk in a couple of hours and consider an extension. There’s a further 3 hour circular walk I could do from here towards the well-known Simonyhutte. If I did that, I would miss the famous Ice Cave at the cable-car’s first station. My sun-baked self doesn’t take long to decide that descending into a genuine ice-cave with a temperature of -2C is a more appealing option than more toil in the heat!

It’s a good decision. The Ice Cave is not to be missed.