The Pillersee Valley (german: Pillerseetal) is a valley in the district of

Kitzbühel Kitzbühel (, also: ; ) is a medieval town situated in the Kitzbühel Alps along the river Kitzbüheler Ache in Tyrol, Austria, about east of the state capital Innsbruck and is the administrative centre of the Kitzbühel district (). Kitzbühel ...

in the Austrian state of

Tyrol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...

, on the border with

Salzburg state Salzburg (, ; bar, Soizbuag, label=Austro-Bavarian) (also known as ''Salzburgerland'') is a state (''Land'') of the modern Republic of Austria. It is officially named ''Land Salzburg'' to distinguish it from its eponymous capital — the city of S ...

Location and landscape

The Pillersee Valley is characterised, like its neighbouring valleys, by a concise valley-floor watershed near St. Jakob in Haus, where the two river valleys of the Pillerseetal meet:
The northern valley branch drains through the Grieselbach,

Pillersee Pillersee is a lake in the Northern Limestone Alps in Tyrol, Austria. The Pillersee is in the Pillerseevalley near the village of Sankt Ulrich am Pillersee at 835 m above sea level. It occupies an area of . Inflows are several streams that origin ...

and Loferbach (Haselbach) streams into the

Saalach The Saalach is a river in Austria and Germany, and a left tributary of the Salzach. Course The river begins, as the stream, in the Austrian state of Tyrol in the Kitzbühel Alps at the lake below the high Gamshag. From there it flows initi ...

Salzach The Salzach (Austrian: �saltsax ) is a river in Austria and Germany. It is in length and is a right tributary of the Inn, which eventually joins the Danube. Its drainage basin of comprises large parts of the Northern Limestone and Central E ...

, and is bounded by the ''Öfenschlucht'' gorge (the ''Teufelsklamm''), part of the '' Strubtal'' valley of the Loferbach stream near

Waidring Waidring is a municipality in the Kitzbühel district in the Austrian state of Tyrol located 20 km northeast of Kitzbühel and 9 km east of Kirchdorf in Tirol near the border with Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; ba ...

.
In the south, the entire east–west running valley of the Rothache and Fieberbrunner Ache (Pillersee Ache) rivers, from the

Grießen Pass Grießen Pass (el. 975 m.) is a high mountain pass in the Austrian Alps between the ''federal states'' of Salzburg and Tyrol. It connects the Kitzbühel Alps and the Leogang Steinberge. The road over the pass leads from Hochfilzen in Tyrol to ...

in the east to the parish boundary between Fieberbrunn and St. Johann in Tirol in the west, also counts as part of the Pillersee Valley. St. Johann, where the Fieberbrunner Ache empties into the

Großache The Großache is a river, long, in the east of the Austrian state of Tyrol and the Bavarian region of Chiemgau. Names The river is known by four different names, each applying to a different section of its course: above Kitzbühel it is the Joc ...

(Kitzbühler-/Kössenerache, eventually becoming the Tiroler Ache tributary of the

Inn Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway; before the advent of motorized transportation they also provided accommo ...

), is the junction with the ''

Leukental The Leukental is a valley in North Tyrol in the district of Kitzbühel in Austria. The Leukental runs north to south from the Thurn Pass to the Bavarian border, but is not just defined as the main valley but includes several smaller side valleys. T ...

'' valley of the River Großache. The Grießen Pass is the transition to the east into the Salzburg ''

Leogang Leogang is a municipality in the district of Zell am See (Pinzgau region), in the state of Salzburg in Austria. It is a famous winter sports and summer mountain hiking resort. Population Sights :Mining and Gothic Museum :tourist mine Schwarzle ...

''. The Pillersee Valley is bordered by the

Loferer Steinberge The Lofer Mountains or Loferer MountainsHeuss, Theodor (1955). ''Preludes to life: early memoirs'', University of Michigan, p. 143. (german: Loferer Steinberge, lit. "Lofer Rock Mountains") are a mountain range in the Northern Limestone Alps in th ...

mountains and the eastern foothills of the

Leoganger Steinberge The Leogang MountainsLichtenberger, Elisabeth (2000). ''Austria: society and regions'', Austrian Academy of Sciences, p. 173. . (german: Leoganger Steinberge, lit. "Leogang Rock Mountains") are a mountain range in Austria in the state of Salzbu ...

(''Kirchel, Buchensteinwand'') in the east and by the ''Kirchbergstock'' (also part of the Leoganger und Loferer Steinberge mountains) in the west. In the south the edge of valley is delineated by the

Kitzbühel Alps The Kitzbühel Alps (german: Kitzbüheler Alpen or ''Kitzbühler Alpen'') are a mountain range of the Central Eastern Alps surrounding the town of Kitzbühel in Tyrol, Austria. Geologically they are part of the western slate zone (greywacke zone) ...

. As a result, the Pillersee Valley lies on the geological boundary between the

Northern Limestone Alps The Northern Limestone Alps (german: Nördliche Kalkalpen), also called the Northern Calcareous Alps, are the ranges of the Eastern Alps north of the Central Eastern Alps located in Austria and the adjacent Bavarian lands of southeastern Germany. ...

and the Slate Alps (Tyrolean "

grass mountains A grass mountain (german: Grasberg) in topography is a mountain covered with low vegetation, typically in the Alps and often steep-sided. The nature of such cover, which often grows particularly well on sedimentary rock, will reflect local condit ...

"), made of

grauwacke Greywacke or graywacke (German ''grauwacke'', signifying a grey, earthy rock) is a variety of sandstone generally characterized by its hardness, dark color, and poorly sorted angular grains of quartz, feldspar, and small rock fragments or lit ...

, in the south. File:Pillerseetal.jpg, The Pillersee in winter File:Haselbach_oefenschlucht.jpg, The Haselbach in the Öfenschlucht gorge File:Oefenschlucht.jpg, The Öfenschlucht File:Pillerseetal Kitzbüheler Horn 2011.jpg, Near Fieberbrunn view of the Kitzbüheler Horn (left) from 9 km east in the Pillersee Valley, Wilder Kaiser in clouds (right)

Municipalities in the Pillersee Valley

The municipalities in the Pillersee Valley are: *

Fieberbrunn Fieberbrunn is a market town in the Austrian state of Tyrol (state), Tyrol in the Kitzbühel (district), Kitzbühel district. It is located at , in the Kitzbühel Alps. Fieberbrunn is the most populous municipality in the Pillerseetal valley. Acco ...

Hochfilzen Hochfilzen is a town and municipality in the Kitzbühel district of the Austrian state of Tyrol. It is located in the Pillersee valley 5 km east of Fieberbrunn. Population was 1,147 in 2016. It is a popular winter sports resort, especially f ...

* St. Ulrich am Pillersee * St. Jakob in Haus *

Transport

The Hochkönigstraße (B 164) and the Salzburg-Tyrolean Railway (both from

Saalfelden Saalfelden am Steinernen Meer is a town in the district of Zell am See District, Zell am See in the Austrian state of Salzburg (state), Salzburg. With approximately 16,000 inhabitants, Saalfelden is the district's largest town and Salzburg (state)# ...

run through the southern part of the valley; the former to St. Johann, the latter to

–

Wörgl Wörgl () is a city in the Austrian state of Tyrol, in the Kufstein district. It is from the international border with Bavaria, Germany. Population Transport Wörgl is an important railway junction between the line from Innsbruck to Munich, and ...

). To the north the ''Pillerseestraße'' is the link to the Loferer Straße (B 178,

Little German Corner The ''Deutsches Eck'' ("German Corner") is the name given to the shortest and most convenient road and railway link between the Austrian metropolitan region of Salzburg and the Tyrolean Unterland with the state capital Innsbruck. Due to the moun ...

–Wörgl).

Panorama

External links

Tirol Atlas by Geografie Innsbruck

St.Ulrich am Pillersee

Fieberbrunn

Waidring

Hochfilzen

St.Jakob in Haus

{{coord, 47, 29, 11, N, 12, 31, 51, E, region:AT-7_type:landmark_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title Valleys of Tyrol (state) Kitzbühel District Loferer and Leoganger Steinberge Kitzbühel Alps Mountain passes of Tyrol (state)