Zauberwald

Zauberwald is a mossy forest of enormous rocks where the Ramsauer Ache pours out of Hintersee and threads through the boulders under the trees. The short nature walk is a good stop if you want to see the rockslide landscape up close, not only admire the lake from its shore.

Official local descriptions give two options from Seeklause: Ramsau's marked nature trail is 2.1 km and about an hour, while the regional tourism loop is 3.3 km and about 1 hour 15 minutes, with a stretch by the lake. Follow the yellow signs for trails 62 and 62a. The path crosses the stream on bridges and has uneven rocks, roots and steps, so it is not a comfortable stroller or wheelchair route. The official listing says it is open year-round and cleared in winter, though snow or ice can still make rocky footing slippery.

About 3,500 years ago, during the Bronze Age, a rockslide broke away between Schärtenspitze and Steinberg in the Hochkalter massif. It dropped about 1,300 m and traveled 3.7 km; its debris blocked the Ramsauer Ache and formed Hintersee. The slide is estimated at 12–16 million cubic metres, so the boulders beside the path are pieces of the event that made the lake itself.

The stream has cut channels between the rocks, and information panels along the walk explain the lake's formation and local plant life. May through July is the stand-out season for the forest's flora. For a photo, keep a boulder in the foreground with the water threading through the trees behind it; that shows both the scale of the rocks and what makes this place distinctive.

Ramsau's village improvement association built the walking path in 1896/97. The name Zauberwald became established in the 1920s, long after the rockslide that gave the forest its shape.

Both walks begin at the Seeklause car park, Hinterseer Straße 104; RVO bus lines 845 and 846 stop at Hintersee-Zauberwald. The route links naturally with the Hintersee shore, and the walk's itinerary includes Wirtshaus im Zauberwald and Gasthaus Seeklause as food stops. It is a compact landscape stop rather than a long hike, so pair it with the lake if you want a fuller outing.