Tauplitzalm

The Tauplitzalm sits at around sixteen hundred metres on a limestone shelf below the Totes Gebirge, and it is one of the larger high pastures in Austria - a rolling plateau of grass, karst outcrops and dwarf pine holding a group of small lakes: the Steirersee, Tauplitzsee, Grosssee, Schwarzensee, Krallersee and Tressensee, several of which sit in karst hollows with no visible outflow. The Sechs-Seen-Wanderung, the six lakes walk, links them in a circuit of a few hours and is the standard summer outing. In winter the plateau is a ski area with lifts up from Tauplitz and Bad Mitterndorf. Access in summer is either by the toll alpine road, which climbs in hairpins from the village, or by the cable car. Huts on the alm serve food through the season.

What you actually see

• A high karst pasture - grass, limestone outcrops and dwarf pine at 1,600 metres.
• Six mountain lakes - several in karst hollows with no visible outflow.
• The six lakes circuit - the standard walk linking them in a few hours.
• Alm huts - working pasture huts serving food through the season.

When to go

June to September for walking; December to March for skiing. A day.

Honest expectations

The toll road is steep with tight hairpins and closes in winter. Weather changes fast at this altitude and fog is common. Huts have seasonal opening. Some lakes are shallow and shrink in dry summers.

Nearby

Bad Mitterndorf and the Ausseerland lakes are north; Schladming is west.