Maltatal

The Maltatal runs north from Gmünd into the Hohe Tauern and is called the valley of falls for the number of them coming off the walls - the Fallbach at around two hundred metres is the tallest, with a via ferrata beside it. The road up, the Malta Hochalmstrasse, is a toll alpine road of about fourteen kilometres with tunnels and hairpins climbing to the Kölnbrein dam at nineteen hundred metres, which at two hundred metres high is the tallest dam in Austria and holds the reservoir feeding the Malta hydro scheme. At the crown there is a visitor gallery inside the dam wall, a hotel, and the Airwalk - a steel and glass platform cantilevered out over the downstream face, standing you above a two-hundred-metre drop. The upper valley is inside the Hohe Tauern National Park.

What you'll find

• The Fallbach - around two hundred metres, the tallest fall in the valley.
• The Kölnbrein dam - two hundred metres high, the tallest in Austria.
• The Airwalk platform - glass and steel cantilevered over the dam face.
• A toll alpine road - fourteen kilometres of hairpins and tunnels up.

When to go

May to October; the high road closes for winter. A day.

Practical notes

The road is tolled, steep and closed by snow outside the season. The Airwalk is not for anyone uneasy with heights. Weather at the dam is often cold and cloudy when the valley is fine.

Nearby

Gmünd is at the valley mouth; the Hohe Tauern National Park is above.

Key facts