The High Alpine Road: along the edge of the national park to the Pasterze
A toll road from 1935 that is now the starting point for nature experiences in the park.
The Grossglockner High Alpine Road links Salzburg and Carinthia over 48 kilometres (30 mi). Through 36 hairpin bends it climbs to the Hochtor at 2,504 metres (8,215 ft), a short tunnel between the two federal states, and, as a spur road, to the Kaiser-Franz-Josefs-Höhe at 2,369 metres (7,772 ft), facing the Grossglockner, at 3,798 metres (12,461 ft) the highest mountain in Austria.
Is the road part of the national park? No. A comparison with the park boundary in OpenStreetMap shows that the road and its stops (Hochtor, Fuscher Törl, Edelweiss-Spitze, the visitor centre at the Kaiser-Franz-Josefs-Höhe, the Glocknerhaus and both toll stations) lie outside, at the pass often only 200 to 300 metres from the boundary. The Pasterze, the Gamsgrube trail and the Grossglockner itself lie inside.
Construction began on 30 August 1930 with up to 4,000 workers, and the road opened on 3 August 1935. It is run by Grossglockner Hochalpenstrassen AG, GROHAG for short. Because wind and avalanches pile up walls of snow up to 20 metres (66 ft) high, it is closed in winter; clearing with the historic Wallack snow blowers usually begins in mid-April.
At the end of the Glacier Road is the Kaiser-Franz-Josefs-Höhe visitor centre with the national park information centre. According to the park authority, the site draws 1.5 million visitors a year, for the view of the Grossglockner and the Pasterze, the largest glacier in the Eastern Alps.
GROHAG: driving safety and road conditions ↗
In numbers
- Length
- 48 km
- Hairpin bends
- 36
- Hochtor
- 2,504 m (8,215 ft)
- Edelweiss-Spitze
- 2,571 m (8,435 ft), highest point you can drive to
- Kaiser-Franz-Josefs-Höhe
- 2,369 m (7,772 ft)
- Grossglockner
- 3,798 m (12,461 ft)
- Opened
- 3 August 1935
- Day ticket, car
- €46.50
