The Gesäuse National Park is a

national park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

in the

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n state of

Styria Styria (german: Steiermark ; Serbo-Croatian and sl, ; hu, Stájerország) is a state (''Bundesland'') in the southeast of Austria. With an area of , Styria is the second largest state of Austria, after Lower Austria. Styria is bordered to ...

. Located in the mountainous

Upper Styria Upper Styria (german: Obersteiermark), in the Austrian usage of the term, refers exclusively to the northwestern, generally mountainous and well-wooded half of the federal state of Styria. The southwestern half of the state around the capital of ...

n region, it covers large parts of the Gesäuse range within the

Ennstal Alps , photo=HochtorOedsteinGroup FromS HoherZinken.jpg , photo_caption=Hochtor - Ödstein Group (Gesäuse) (from right to left) as seen from Hoher Zinken in the south , country= Austria , subdivision1_type=States , subdivision1= , parent= Northe ...

and the steep

water gap A water gap is a gap that flowing water has carved through a mountain range or mountain ridge and that still carries water today. Such gaps that no longer carry water currents are called wind gaps. Water gaps and wind gaps often offer a prac ...

of the Enns river between

Admont Admont is a town in the Austrian state of Styria. It is historically most notable for Admont Abbey, a monastery founded in 1074. Gesäuse National Park, in which Admont lies, is an area of outstanding beauty. The town is situated in the middle of ...

and

Hieflau Hieflau is a former municipality in the district of Leoben in Styria, Austria. Since the 2015 Styria municipal structural reform, it is part of the municipality Landl, in the Liezen District Bezirk Liezen is a district of the state of Styria in ...

. The area also covers parts of the municipal areas of

Johnsbach Johnsbach is a former municipality in the Austrian state of Styria. Since the 2015 Styria municipal structural reform, it is part of the municipality Admont Admont is a town in the Austrian state of Styria. It is historically most notable for A ...

Weng Weng may refer to: * Weng (surname), a Chinese surname * Weng, Germany, a town in the district of Landshut, Bavaria, Germany * Weng im Innkreis, a town in the district of Braunau am Inn, Upper Austria, Austria * Weng im Gesäuse, a town in the d ...

Landl Landl is a municipality in the district of Liezen in the Austrian state of Styria. Second World War History Late in the Second World War a group of about 70 Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany fr ...

, and Sankt Gallen. The national park currently covers , with another planned. It was established on 26 October 2002. The highest mountain is

Hochtor Hochtor, at , is the highest mountain in the Ennstaler Alps, part of the Northern Limestone Alps, in Styria, Austria. The mountain is protected as part of Gesäuse National Park, the third largest in Austria. Gallery image:Hochtor.JPG, Hochto ...

at .

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gesause National Park National parks of Austria Protected areas established in 2002 Ennstal Alps Geography of Styria Tourist attractions in Styria 2002 establishments in Austria Protected areas of the Alps