The Hohe Wand region comprises a rock formation with its surrounding area, situated on the

Hohe Wand Hohe Wand is a municipality in the district of Wiener Neustadt-Land in the Austrian state of Lower Austria Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, ...

mountain in Austria, that is protected as a

nature park A nature park, or sometimes natural park, is a designation for a protected natural area by means of long-term land planning, sustainable resource management and limitation of agricultural and real estate developments. These valuable landscape ...

. It is located in the

Gutenstein Alps The Gutenstein Alps (german: Gutensteiner Alpen) are a mountain range in the Eastern Alps in Central Europe, and the northeasternmost part of the Northern Limestone Alps, reaching heights over 1,000 m. Topography Die Gutenstein Alps are ...

in the state of

Lower Austria Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Since 1986, the capital of Lower Austria has been Sankt P ...

Description

The area forms the eastern edge of the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...

as it transitions to the Pannonian Plain and Vienna Basin. Its

bedrock In geology, bedrock is solid Rock (geology), rock that lies under loose material (regolith) within the crust (geology), crust of Earth or another terrestrial planet. Definition Bedrock is the solid rock that underlies looser surface mater ...

consists of

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

. The nature park is easily accessible, but charges are levied for certain facilities and for access by car. The nature park is located in the municipalities of Wöllersdorf-Steinabrückl, Bad Fischau-Brunn,

and

Höflein an der Hohen Wand Höflein an der Hohen Wand is a town in the district of Neunkirchen in the Austrian state of Lower Austria Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, ...

. It is also part of a European protected area, the Northeastern Perimeter Alps, and the Hohe Wand-Dürre Wand Nature Reserve.

Natural attractions

The Hohe Wand is a wooded plateau whose

flora and fauna In biology, an organism () is any living system that functions as an individual entity. All organisms are composed of cells (cell theory). Organisms are classified by taxonomy into groups such as multicellular animals, plants, and fungi; ...

lie in the transition zone influenced on the one hand by the Alps and on the other by the Pannonian Plain. Its rocky cliffs, up to 230 metres high, drop away to the southeast, exposed to the so-called "New World". In the limestone rock are several caves, both large and small, such as the Cserny Cave near the ''Felsenpfad'' and the

Unicorn Cave The Unicorn Cave (german: Einhornhöhle) is the largest show cave in the West Harz, about kilometres northwest of Scharzfeld in the borough of Herzberg am Harz in central Germany.

, a show cave near Dreistetten.

Man-made attractions

There has long been a tourist infrastructure on the plateau. In the 1930s, a public road up to the plateau was hewn out of the rock. There even used to be a chairlift to the area; it is now closed. On the plateau itself are the following facilities: * A semi-natural playground with adjacent petting zoo and a so-called "play and fun mountain" with a wild animal park, observation tower and large-scale marmot to climb on, * An alpine and local history museum, * A nature park room, * A dense network of hiking paths, secured '' klettersteigs'', and open climbing terrain as well as launch sites for hang gliding and paragliding, * At the edge of the Wand plateau is an observation terrace, called the "Skywalk" (see illustration) and a so-called "cliff path" (''Felsenpfad'') near the Kohlröserlhaus, * Guided woodland tours, adventure tours and llama trekking.

External links

Hohe Wand Nature Park
{{Authority control Wiener Neustadt-Land District Nature parks Protected areas of Austria Geography of Lower Austria Gutenstein Alps Tourist attractions in Lower Austria Parks in Austria