The Dachstein Mountains (german: Dachsteingebirge) are a mountain range in the Northern Limestone Alps. The term is used by the

Austrian Alpine Club The Austrian Alpine Club (german: Österreichischer Alpenverein) has about 573,000 members in 196 sections and is the largest mountaineering organisation in Austria. It is responsible for the upkeep of over 234 alpine huts in Austria and neighbour ...

in its classification of the Eastern Alps as one of the 24 sub-ranges of the Northern Limestone Alps (AVE No. 14). The ''Dachstein'' range includes: * The

Dachstein Massif Hoher Dachstein () is a strongly karstic mountain in central Austria and the second-highest mountain in the Northern Limestone Alps. It is situated at the border of Upper Austria and Styria, and is the highest point in each of those states. Pa ...

proper with its highest peak, the Hoher Dachstein () * Grimming () in the east to the upper Styrian

Enns valley The Enns (, ) is a southern tributary of the river Danube, joining northward at Enns, Austria. The Enns spans , in a flat-J-shape. It flows from its source near the village Flachau, generally eastward through Radstadt, Schladming, and Liezen, then ...

* Sarstein () in the north at the other bank of the River Traun

Extent

The Dachstein Mountains are bordered as follows:Alpenvereinseinteilung der Ostalpen
/ref> * to the northeast by the '' Totes Gebirge'', which is separated by the line from

Sankt Agatha Sankt Agatha is a municipality in the district of Grieskirchen in the Austrian state of Upper Austria. Geography Sankt Agatha lies in the Hausruckviertel The Hausruckviertel (literally German for the ''Hausruck'' quarter or district) is an ...

on the Hallstättersee – Pötschenhöhe – Bad Aussee –

Kainischtraun Traun () is a river in the Austrian state of Upper Austria. Its source is in the Totes Gebirge mountain range in Styria. It flows through the Salzkammergut area and the lakes Hallstätter See and Traunsee. The Traun is a right tributary of ...

– Bad Mitterndorf –

Klachau Tauplitz is a former municipality in the district of Liezen in the Austrian state of Styria. Since the 2015 Styria municipal structural reform The Styria municipal structural reform (German: ''Steiermärkische Gemeindestrukturreform'') was a ...

– Grimmingbach to the River Enns * to the south by the '' Rottenmanner und Wölzer Tauern'' and the '' Niedere Tauern'', which are separated by the River Enns, roughly from Untergrimming to its confluence with the Weißenbach near Haus im Ennstal * to the southwest by the Roßbrand in the ''

Salzburg Slate Mountains The Salzburg Slate Alps (german: Salzburger Schieferalpen) are a mountain range of the Eastern Alps, in the Austrian state of Salzburg. Situated within the greywacke zone, they could be regarded either as part of the Northern Limestone Alps or of ...

'' along the line from Weißenbach – Ramsaubach – Schildlehenbach – Kalte Mandling – Warme Mandling – Marcheggsattel – Fritzbach – Linbach – Neubach to Lungötz in the Lammer valley * to the west the Lammer valley forms the boundary of the mountains with the '' Tennengebirge'' * to the northwest the '' Salzkammergut Mountains'' are separated by a line from Rußbach –

Gschütt Pass Gschütt Pass (elevation 957 m.) is a high mountain pass in the Austrian Alps between the '' Bundesländer'' of Salzburg and Upper Austria. It connects Rußbach in the state of Salzburg with Gosau in Upper Austria. The pass is traversed by the Fe ...

– Gosaubach – Hallstätter See to

Divisions

The two individual peaks of Grimming and Sarstein were counted as part of the Dachstein range because both have been broken off the

Dachstein limestone The Dachstein Formation or Dachstein Limestone (German: ''Dachsteinkalk'') is a geologic formation in the Alps and other Tethyan mountain ranges in Austria, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Switzerland, Slovakia and Slovenia. It preserves fossils dated to ...

block, even though they are quite separate from a hydrographic and

orographic Orography is the study of the topographic relief of mountains, and can more broadly include hills, and any part of a region's elevated terrain. Orography (also known as ''oreography'', ''orology'' or ''oreology'') falls within the broader discipl ...

perspective. This classification appeared as early as 1924 in the ''Moriggl Division'' of the Alps. The dividing lines are: * Hallstättersee and

Koppentraun Traun () is a river in the Austrian state of Upper Austria. Its source is in the Totes Gebirge mountain range in Styria. It flows through the Salzkammergut area and the lakes Hallstätter See and Traunsee. The Traun is a right tributary of ...

to Sarstein * from Bad Mitterndorf on the Salzabach including the Salza Reservoir to Grimming – here the

Dachstein Glacier Dachstein Glacier is a glacier located between the towns of Ramsau am Dachstein in the south and Hallstatt and Obertraun in the north, in Austria. Snow is at the top of the glacier throughout the year. However snow is soft in summer. This mount ...

has carved out another valley which is drained by the

to the north and the Grimmingbach to the south, and which forms the natural landscape division with the Totes Gebirge. In between the Salza crosses the valley in a curious way, and forms a narrow gorge ''(Salzaschlucht)'' between Grimming and Kemetgebirge, the eastern edge of the Dachstein plateau.

Climate

References

External links

{{Authority control Mountain ranges of the Alps Northern Limestone Alps Mountains of Salzburg (state) Mountain ranges of Styria Mountains of Upper Austria