Gesäuse National Park is a

national park A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...

in the

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n state of

Styria Styria ( ; ; ; ) is an Austrian Federal states of Austria, state in the southeast of the country. With an area of approximately , Styria is Austria's second largest state, after Lower Austria. It is bordered to the south by Slovenia, and cloc ...

. Located in the mountainous

Upper Styria Upper Styria (), 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 southeastern half of the state around the capital of Graz is known as Cent ...

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

Ennstal Alps The Ennstal Alps (German ''Ennstaler Alpen''), the Alps of the Enns valley, are a mountain range of the Northern Limestone Alps System. They are located primarily in the Austrian state of Styria, and also into the state of Upper Austria. The most ...

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 pract ...

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 midd ...

and Hieflau. The area also covers parts of the municipal areas of Johnsbach, Weng,

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 f ...

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