Wimbachklamm-Rundweg

Wimbachklamm-Rundweg is a 1.3-mile loop from Wimbachbrücke: follow the valley path to the gorge, walk its one-way boardwalk, then return on the path above the gorge. The mapped circuit is about 2.1 km; the often quoted 200 m describes only the gorge walkway. Allow about an hour for the approach, the bypass climb, the ticket stop and time beside the water. It is a good compact outing if you want to stand inside a waterfall gorge. The gorge passage is brief, though, and this is not a high-mountain hike.

Start at the National Park information point at Wimbachbrücke and follow signs toward Wimbachschloss. The ticket machine is at Wimbachs Wollstadl, about 300 m before the gorge. Buy the token before reaching the lower entrance: the gorge is one-way, so you cannot reverse through it from the far end. Walk the boards through, then take the bypass above the gorge to close the loop. That return has a short, steep climb. If you keep walking after the gorge and bypass routes meet, you are starting a different, much longer valley hike.

The gorge itself is only about 200 m long, but the path keeps you close to the water. Timber bridges and raised boards run beside steep rock walls, past mossy ledges, little rivulets and waterfalls dropping into the stream. The noise builds as the valley narrows. The boards can be wet and slippery, especially in spray or rain, and the return path adds a much steeper stretch than the walkway. For a photo, include some of the walkway railing with a cascade; it shows how tightly the path fits into the rock cleft.

Farther up the valley, the Wimbachgries is a broad field of pale, dry scree, and much of the stream runs underground. At the gorge, that water comes back to the surface and spills through a narrow cut in the rock. The sudden change from a quiet gravel valley to fast, visible water is the interesting geological story here. The National Park information point at Wimbachbrücke has displays about the valley’s geology and living things if you want context before you set off.

The first walkway was built by Ramsau forestry workers to move timber toward the saltworks. What began as a practical way through the gorge is now the reason for the short loop: the boards follow the same tight passage where you can see water wearing through rock, with moss and small streams clinging to the walls. The route is a quick look at a dramatic landscape, not a long walk with a distant summit payoff.

For a longer outing, continue toward Wimbachschloss instead of returning at the loop. That is a separate 8.5 km (5.3-mile) round trip, listed at about two hours and 312 m of ascent and descent. The lodge is a former Wittelsbach hunting lodge and now a mountain inn, so it makes a natural turnaround if you want more valley walking. It is not part of the Wimbachklamm-Rundweg, and its distance and time should not be used for this short circuit.