Ore of the Alps Global Geopark

Situated 50 kilometres south of Salzburg, in the so-called “Inner Mountains”, the Geopark covers 211 km2 and belongs to the communities of Bischofshofen, St. Veit, Hüttau and Mühlbach am Hochkönig. The human history of this region goes back to the Copper and Bronze-Age, and is closely linked with the area’s mineral resources, specially iron ore and gold. Ore of the Alps is mainly situated in the Graywacke Zone, consisting of clastic rocks about 541 to 252 million years old that arerich in mineral deposits. The northern fringe belongs to the Northern Calcareous Alps, the southern one to the Central Alps. The site is characterised by carbonate cliffs, waterfalls, gorges, springs, rock fall terraces, cirque lakes, and roches moutonées. The plateau of the highest peak in the Geopark, the Hochkönig (2,941 m), is covered by a glacier.