The way across the 1,866-metre-high Oberh\u00fcttensattel trail from Pongau to the Weisspriachtal valley is one of the oldest passages through the Tauern mountains and was the preferred route for southward long-distance trade during Roman times. Today, this Tauern passage is a transalpine mountain bike route.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.salzburgerland.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/die-longa-im-talboden-des-w-1170x658.jpg\")
\u00a9 Michael Gr\u00f6ssinger<\/p><\/div>\n
Give your body a break \u2014 good food and regeneration at the waterfall<\/h2>\n
Those who choose the climb down the mountain and thus follow the course of the Longa river will quickly see it turn into a gushing mountain torrent. After some time it really shifts gears and begins to rage and splash its way into the valley.<\/p>\n
There are big and small waterfalls as the river runs by the unmanned Ulnh\u00fctte hut (the last stop of the valley bus) and the beautifully located Granglerh\u00fctte hut.\u00a0 You should definitely take a break here \u2014 because the Blutwurstgr\u00f6stl dish, made from home-made blood sausage, roasted onions and Lungau potatoes, as well as the farmer\u2019s pot with bacon, are renowned delicacies.<\/p>\n
A particularly beautiful spot is the Uln waterfall at whose shore you will find plenty of large boulders to rest on. The water that crashes down onto the stones after falling enriches the air with negatively charged ions. This cleanses the lungs and has been proven to have relaxing effects on body, mind and soul.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.salzburgerland.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/wild-sprudelnd-im-wasserfal-1170x658.jpg\")
\u00a9 Michael Gr\u00f6ssinger<\/p><\/div>\n
A tale of spooky ghosts and a loyal four-legged friend<\/h2>\n
During its course out of the valley, the Longa river now coils somewhat gentler through the Lahnt\u00f6rl area before dropping down steeply to the Diktlerh\u00fctte hut once again. From Lahnt\u00f6rl, there are a number of great views of the surrounding summits, such as the striking Teufelskirche and Hundsstein summits. The shore of the \u201cLonga Lahnt\u00f6rl\u201d conservation area is lined with larches and there\u2019s nothing to remind one of the scary myth of the Friml ghost who was once encountered by the servant of the Friml farmer on Christmas Eve. How exactly the ghost terrorised the poor servant and how \u201cVier\u00e4ugl\u201d the dog managed to prevent even worse things from happening, is something you should best read up on by yourself.<\/p>\n
Lungau got its name from the Longa river<\/h2>\n
The Longa, on the other hand, continues its way in a carefree manner. Gushing and splashing \u2014 by now it has united with the Znachbach stream \u2014 it runs through the back of the Weisspriachtal valley, which many Lungau locals consider the most beautiful of all valleys here. Biosphere Park expert Bettina van der Vaar is quick to agree, \u201cThe Wei\u00dfpriachtal valley is somehow different from the other Lungau valleys. The valley\u2019s lifeline is undoubtedly the undeveloped Longa river with its crystal-clear water and untouched nature. The river makes its way through countless loops. It was the Celts who gave the uniquely coiled river the name \u2018Lonkina\u2019, which approximately means \u2018the coiled one\u2019. The Lonkina became the Longa or Lonka and supposedly helped name the Lungau region as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.salzburgerland.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/stilles-plaetzchen-am-fluss-1170x658.jpg\")
\u00a9 Michael Gr\u00f6ssinger<\/p><\/div>\n
Delicious freshwater fish and a rare butterfly species<\/h2>\n
On its way to the estuary into the Taurach river near Mariapfarr, the Longa river passes by the valley municipality of Weisspriach with its 310 inhabitants. The community is among the three SalzburgerLand areas with the highest birth-rates \u2014 last year alone, nine births were recorded in Weisspriach.<\/p>\n
Additional highlights of the area include the early Roman St. Ruperth church with its Byzantine frescos and the much newer natural playground with a swimming area by the Longa. From here on, the Longa flows more gently again: It has overcome the biggest altitude differences, marking the beginning of the gorgeous \u201cLonga Meanders\u201d. The crystal-clear mountain water, the various flow velocities and the stream conditions of the Longa make up the ideal habitat for brown and rainbow trout, char and grayling. Passionate fly fishers can purchase day passes from June to October.<\/p>\n
And Bettina van der Vaart can list one more unique feature. \u201cIn SalzburgerLand, the violet copper butterfly can only be found in Lungau. Its biggest population is in the nature reserve of the Longau Meanders.\u201d The butterfly species is considered \u201cendangered\u201d in both Austria as well as in Germany.<\/p>\n
Here, at the shores of the Longa Meanders, the 3-star hotel \u201cH\u00e4userl im Wald\u201d also likes to provide yoga lessons for its guests. A wonderful place to find inner peace and recharge your batteries. Because, after all, \u201cstill or sparkling\u201d basically means nothing other than \u201cyin and yang.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hiking, swimming, fly fishing, yoga \u2014 all this is possible at the Longa river. With its characteristic opal-blue and turquoise shimmering colours, it is a true natural jewel and thus one of the many reasons why Lungau became a UNESCO Biosphere Park in 2012. To the question \u201cStill or sparkling?\u201d, the Longa river would probably […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":159870,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"wl_entities_gutenberg":"","_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"wl_entity_type":[5663],"class_list":["post-159868","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-allgemein","wl_entity_type-article"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n