The Nock Mountains (german: Nockberge or ''Nockgebirge'') are the westernmost and highest mountain range of the

Gurktal Alps The Gurktal Alps (german: Gurktaler Alpen, sl, Krške Alpe) is a mountain range located in the Central Eastern Alps in Austria, named after the valley of the Gurk river. The range stretches west to Lake Millstatt and east to Neumarkter Sattel ( ...

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 ...

, spread over parts of the

federal states A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governi ...

Carinthia Carinthia (german: Kärnten ; sl, Koroška ) is the southernmost States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The main language is German language, German. Its regional dialects belong to t ...

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian) is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the ...

and

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 ...

. Their appearance is characterised by numerous dome-like and grass-covered summits (''Nocken''). Their highest peak is the Eisenhut in Styria which reaches an elevation of AA. In July 2012 the Nock Mountains and the adjacent

Lungau Bezirk Tamsweg is an administrative district (''Bezirk'') in the federal state of Salzburg, Austria. It is congruent with the Lungau region (). The administrative centre of the district is Tamsweg. Geography The area of the Lungau plateau is 1,0 ...

region were designated a

biosphere reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or o ...

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

. They were largely unglaciated in the Ice Age and were a

glacial refugium A glacial refugium (''plural refugia'') is a geographic region which made possible the survival of flora and fauna in times of ice ages and allowed for post-glacial re-colonization. Different types of glacial refugia can be distinguished, namely nun ...

Geography

As westernmost part of the Gurktal Alps, the Nock Mountains are separated from the

Low Tauern The Lower TauernThe New Encyclopædia Britannica, Vol. 1, 2003, p. 86. or Niedere Tauern () are a mountain range of the Central Eastern Alps, in the Austrian states of Salzburg and Styria. For the etymology of the name, see Tauern. Geography ...

in the north, stretching as far as the

Katschberg Pass Katschberg Pass (el. ) is a high mountain pass in the Central Eastern Alps in Austria between Rennweg am Katschberg in the state of Carinthia and Sankt Michael im Lungau in Salzburg. Geography It connects the Carinthian Katsch Valley in the s ...

() in the west, by the Mur River. In the west, the rivers Lieser and Drau separate the Nock Mountains from the

Ankogel Group The Ankogel Group (german: Ankogelgruppe) is a sub-group of the Central Eastern Alps. Together with the Goldberg Group, the Glockner Group, the Schober Group, the Kreuzeck Group, the Granatspitze Group, the Venediger Group, the Villgraten Mountain ...

of the

High Tauern The High Tauern ( pl.; german: Hohe Tauern, it, Alti Tauri) are a mountain range on the main chain of the Central Eastern Alps, comprising the highest peaks east of the Brenner Pass. The crest forms the southern border of the Austrian states of S ...

and from the

Gailtal Alps , ''Drauzug'' , photo=Grosse Sandspitze 1.jpg , photo_size= , photo_caption=Große Sandspitze, the highest peak in the range , country= Austria , subdivision1_type= States , subdivision1= , parent= , geology= Limestone , orogeny=Alpine o ...

. South of

Lake Ossiach Lake Ossiach (german: Ossiacher See, sl, Osojsko jezero) is a lake in the Austrian state of Carinthia. It is the state's third largest lake, superseded only by Lake Wörth and Lake Millstatt. Geography It is situated in the southern Nock Moun ...

they are adjoined by the lower Sattnitz range and the

Klagenfurt Klagenfurt am WörtherseeLandesgesetzblatt 2008 vom 16. Jänner 2008, Stück 1, Nr. 1: ''Gesetz vom 25. Oktober 2007, mit dem die Kärntner Landesverfassung und das Klagenfurter Stadtrecht 1998 geändert werden.'/ref> (; ; sl, Celovec), usually ...

Basin, another part of the Gurktal Alps. To the east, within the Gurktal Alps they are bounded by a line from Gurk via

Flattnitz Pass Flattnitz Pass (el. 1400 m.) is a high mountain pass in the Austrian Alps. The pass is located in the state of Carinthia, connecting Glödnitz in the Gurk valley with Stadl on the Mur river, beyond the border with Styria. The pass height co ...

() to the Paalbach stream. The Nock Mountains may be divided into eight subgroups. South of

Bad Kleinkirchheim Bad Kleinkirchheim is a municipality and spa town in the district of Spittal an der Drau, in Carinthia, Austria. Until the middle of the 20th century, agriculture was the dominant focus, but it is now a renowned spa and ski resort. Although recor ...

are the

stock In finance, stock (also capital stock) consists of all the shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided.Longman Business English Dictionary: "stock - ''especially AmE'' one of the shares into which ownership of a company ...

s of the Mirnock massif () with a significant

topographic prominence In topography, prominence (also referred to as autonomous height, relative height, and shoulder drop in US English, and drop or relative height in British English) measures the height of a mountain or hill's summit relative to the lowest contou ...

of 1,343 m, the Wöllaner Nock () and the Gerlitzen () high above Lake Ossiach. The central region of the Nock Mountains is formed by the Millstätter Alpe () and the Rosennock (), the highest summit in Carinthia. In the north are the stocks of the Schwarzwand (), the Königstuhl () in Salzburg, which is also a

tripoint A tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints as of 2020. Nearly half are situated in rivers, l ...

, and the Eisenhut (). The range has also been referred to in German language tourist brochures as the "Nocky Mountains", an

allusion Allusion is a figure of speech, in which an object or circumstance from unrelated context is referred to covertly or indirectly. It is left to the audience to make the direct connection. Where the connection is directly and explicitly stated (as ...

to the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...

.For example
www.merian.dewww.nockalmstrasse.atwww.speick.de
/ref>

National park

The central area formed the Nock Mountains

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 ...

established by the Carinthian state government on 1 January 1987. The remote area had already been developed with the construction of the scenic Nockalm Road from 1979. Further plans for a

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IO ...

region were averted by a citizens' initiative and a

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

in 1980, whereby 94% of the voters declared themselves against the project. Despite its name, the ''Nationalpark Nockberge'' was designated a

protected landscape Protection is any measure taken to guard a thing against damage caused by outside forces. Protection can be provided to physical objects, including organisms, to systems, and to intangible things like civil and political rights. Although th ...

(Category V) according to

IUCN protected area categories IUCN protected area categories, or IUCN protected area management categories, are categories used to classify protected areas in a system developed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The enlisting of such areas is part ...

. The territory of was entirely located within the Carinthian part of the range, along the border with Salzburg and Styria, stretching from Krems and the Lieser Valley in the west to Reichenau in the east, and down to

and

Radenthein Radenthein ( sl, Radenče ) is a town in Spittal an der Drau District, in the Austrian state of Carinthia. Geography The town is situated in the Gegend valley (''Gegendtal'') of the Nock Mountains range (part of the Gurktal Alps), stretching to ...

in the south.

References

External links

{{commons category, Nockberge
Nock Mountains Biosphere Park
Mountain ranges of the Alps Mountain ranges of Carinthia (state) Mountain ranges of Salzburg (state) Mountain ranges of Styria Protected areas of the Alps