Natural jewel in tyrol
Kaunergrat Nature Park
The Kaunergrat Nature Park was established more than 20 years ago. It is named after the Kaunergrat, a rugged and wild mountain range that rises between the Pitztal and Kaunertal valleys. The Hotel Sonnblick in Plangeross in the middle of the nature park is the perfect starting point to explore this unique natural landscape.
589 km² total area, 84 three-thousand-metre peaks, 9 nature park communities, 7 protected areas - the numbers of the Kaunergrat Nature Park may impress. Much more impressive is the natural landscape that characterises the Kaunergrat. Hardly any other north-south mountain range in Tyrol has such a wild and rugged character over such a short distance. Rocky cirques, steep peaks, icy glaciers, but also centuries-old cultural landscapes can be found on the 28 kilometres between the Innauen (750 m) in the north and the Wildspitze (3768 m) in the south.
We invite you to discover the Kaunergrat Nature Park right outside our hotel door in summer and winter and to let yourself be enchanted by the special power and beauty of nature!
The Nature Park House am Gachenblick was opened in 2007 and is considered the gateway to the nature park. Not only because of its panoramic location at the "Gachenblick", where people have left their traces for thousands of years. But also because of its appealing architectural design, the informative exhibition "3000 m VERTIKAL" and the wonderful sun terrace of the restaurant, the nature park house is worth a visit.
TipNearby is the natural monument Piller Moor, where visitors can learn about the formation of moors on a circular hiking trail.
The Rifflsee at 2288 m above sea level is the largest cirque lake in the Ötztal Alps. Visitors can enjoy the fantastic view of the mountain lake on easy circular hiking trails, which is also easily accessible thanks to the Rifflsee cable car.
TipOn Europe's highest raft trip you can also experience the lake from the water.
The Kaunergrat hut lies at an altitude of 2,817 metres in the heart of the Kaunergrat. The highest mountain hut in the Pitztal valley is a challenging four-hour hike for mountain hikers. Climbers and alpinists are drawn to the Wazespitze (3532 m), the highest peak of the Kaunergrat, via the famous east ridge.
TOP 10 NATURE JEWELS IN THE NATURE PARK KAUNERGRAT
In the Kaunergrat Nature Park, visitors are spoilt for choice. One natural jewel follows the next. The most beautiful places in the nature park region Pitztal-Kaunertal-Fließ can be found here.
Hunting & wild
Ibex Centre St. Leonhard
The ibex not only proudly adorns the coat of arms of the municipality of St. Leonhard. After the successful reintroduction in the 1950s, the largest colony of ibex in the Eastern Alps lives here today with around 1200 specimens.
Opened in 2020, the Tyrolean Ibex Centre in St. Leonhard is dedicated to the ambivalent history of the relationship between man, nature and culture in the Pitztal valley. The visitor centre houses a photographic exhibition, an information point and a restaurant. The centrepiece is the walk-in ibex enclosure, where ibex and marmots can be observed up close.
The aim is to make the Ibex Centre a centre for education and training in the field of Hunting & Game to develop.
Winter in the Pitztal
A little quieter, a little wilder, a little more genuine than elsewhere. Winter on the roof of Tyrol. Let yourself be enchanted by the mountain winter at the Sonnblick.
