Dr. Vogelgesang Gorge

A wild romantic gorge with a doctor’s title – the LONGEST GORGE IN UPPER AUSTRIA & THE SECOND LONGEST GORGE IN AUSTRIA!

Experience the natural spectacle of the falling water in the longest gorge in Upper Austria with a length of over 1.5 km from the ticket office and 2.7 km from parking lot 2 as well as 500 wooden and stone steps. The gorge is also the starting point for the approx. 5-hour 3-hut hike (Bosruckhütte, Rohrauerhaus and Hofalm).

The Dr. Vogelgesang-Gorge is a welcome destination for all ages, from infant to old age. At the end you connect with the international long distance hiking trail (E 601 via alpina), from where you can embark on a beautiful and popular circular hiking path. To ease the tired bones, take a break and enjoy some local specialities at one of the the alpine huts Bosruckhütte, Rohrauerhaus or at the Hofalm before your descent to Spital am Pyhrn.

Dr. Moritz Vogelgesang was the local doctor at Spital am Pyhrn and also head of the local improvement club. His efforts to make the gorge accessible are the reason why it is named after him.
The word “Vogelgesang” also means bird song, the gorge is therefore often erroneously called bird song gorge.

The Dr. Vogelgesang-Gorge was made partly accessible for the first time in the summer of 1906 for tourists. In 1908 the gorge was destroyed by floods. From 1926 – 1927 the entire gorge was made fully accessible by the municipality of Spital am Pyhrn by means of steps and footbridges fixed vertically into the rocks. The entire gorge can be climbed by approximately 500 steps. Every May the steps are inspected and maintained all summer long, to ensure that visitors can enjoy the water falls at no risk. In 2006 the gorge celebrated its one-hundred-year old existence.