A trip to Krimml, the fifth highest waterfall in the world

Wellcome to Krimml Waterfalls, one of the highest waterfalls in the world. And yes, they are as impressive as it sounds.

I live in Schladming, which is only 2h drive away from Krimml. Now I feel silly for not visiting this place earlier. But better late than never, right?

We parked on the last parking (#4 I think) and started walking down the path to the bottom of the waterfall, or at least that´s what we thought. After getting lost for a while, we managed to find a wooden bridge and a path that took us straight to the waterfall. If all the tourists go right, you turn left! While the rest of them will be on the other side of the river, you will photobomb all of their photos.

We were not equipped for taking selfies, check out our selfie stick / huge tripod with a camera you don´t want to drop. 

Our perfect lunch spot a few meters away from what appeared to be closed Schoenangerl restaurant.

You’ll find the finest view at the Bergerblick, the top of the falls….they say. The thing is, that we started our trip a bit late, we switched to winter time a day before and we also made toooooo many photo-stops, plus talking about bears and other animal attacks didn´t help either. Although there are apparently no bears in Austria and the only animal we met on our way home was a happy squirrel, we were happy to reach the parking before it got totally dark.

Some numbers, figures, and possibly boring fact

• The Krimml Waterfalls are 380m high and one of the highest waterfalls in the world.
• They are Austria’s only natural landmark which is certified with the nature protection diploma of the Council of Europe.
• An average of 450,000 m³ of water plunges down the falls a day – that’s 5.6 m³ per second.
• A person needs 2.5 liters of water a day to survive. The water mass of a single second is enough to supply 135,000 persons with this daily amount every minute.
• In free fall, a drop of water covers 800 altitude meters in exactly 11.2 seconds.
• The waterfalls are 380 m in height. Fine spray emanates from the masses of water hitting the rocks.
• The cascades’ spume ensures abundant plant and plant life at the waterfall; the grassed areas are of intense green color.
• The spray contains millions of negative ions clinging to the smallest water particles: inhalation strengthens the immune system and alleviates asthma and allergies.
• The Krimml Waterfalls are subject to rhythmic tides during the course of the day and the season: the highest amount of water plunges into the valley in the evening when the midday melt water creates the “flood”. Additionally, glaciers segregate the least amount of water in the morning due to cold night-time temperatures.
• The Krimml Waterfalls have been under complete protection since 1984 as part of the High Tauern National Park

Open daily from mid-April to end of October. Since it was end of their season it was all open and free of charge (except parking). But all the restaurants were closed and the paths no longer maintained. So it was good that we packed some lunch.

Time of a normal hike: 1:30 h / Time if you take photos every 2m is 4:00 h

All photos by Mitja Kobal