The Partnach Gorge

The Partnach drains the Reintal below the Wetterstein and forces its way out through a limestone cleft so narrow that timber used to be floated down it. A path was blasted along the wall in the 1910s, and the gorge can now be walked end to end: about 700 metres between walls that reach eighty metres, through short rock tunnels with the water a few metres below and spray coming off it the whole way. In summer the meltwater is loud and grey with rock flour. In deep winter the seeps freeze into curtains and columns and the gorge stays open, dimly lit and colder than anywhere else in the valley. From the upper end paths continue to Graseck and the Eckbauer.

What you actually see

• The slot - 700 metres of gorge with walls reaching eighty metres.
• The rock tunnels - a walkway blasted into the wall, water below and spray throughout.
• Winter ice - frozen curtains and columns where the seeps come through the rock.
• The upper exit - paths continuing to Graseck and the Eckbauer above the gorge.

When to go

Late spring and early summer bring the loudest, fullest water from snowmelt. January and February are the other strong window, when the ice forms. Early morning or the last hour before closing avoids the worst of the traffic; midsummer afternoons are the busiest. Check that it is open before setting out, and note the closing time.

Honest expectations

You will get wet, from spray and from water dripping off the tunnel roofs, and there is no dry line through it. The path is narrow with two-way traffic and no real passing places, so summer afternoons back up. It closes without warning after rockfall or heavy rain. The walk in from the car park is twenty-five minutes each way, and parking is charged on top of the ticket.

Nearby

Garmisch-Partenkirchen, the Zugspitze railway and the Hollentalklamm on the other side of the valley.