Sigmund Thun Gorge

The Sigmund-Thun-Klamm runs for about three hundred and twenty metres above Kaprun, cut by the Kapruner Ache carrying meltwater down from the Kitzsteinhorn glacier, and the gorge itself is geologically young - the rock was exposed by glacial retreat and the water has been at it only since the ice pulled back. Wooden boardwalks and stairs run through on a route opened in 1893 and named after the count who paid for it, climbing about a hundred metres past pools, potholes and a fall. It is short, an hour is plenty, and it connects to the Kapruner Stausee reservoir road and the Sigmund-Thun path onwards. Because it is meltwater-fed, the flow is strongest on hot afternoons in summer, which is the reverse of a rain-fed gorge.

What you actually see

• A young meltwater gorge - cut since the glacier retreated, still forming.
• Boardwalks and stairs - the 1893 route through three hundred metres of slot.
• Potholes and pools - the shapes the swirling meltwater has worn.
• Glacier-driven flow - strongest on hot afternoons rather than after rain.

When to go

May to October; afternoons for the strongest flow. Two hours.

Honest expectations

Closed in winter. It is short - an hour covers it - and busy in high summer. Boards are wet and slippery. The water is glacial and very cold; do not enter it.

Nearby

Kaprun and the Kitzsteinhorn are above; Zell am See is north.