Zedlach Paradise Walk

This walk leading through the "Zedlach Paradise" gives visitors the chance to see larch trees up to 500 years old. Along the "Zedlacher Waldlehrpfad" learning trail leading through the forest, children and adults will find a series of figures created by local artist Erich Trost telling them all about the forest at night. Walkers then reach the Kräuterwirtshaus Strumerhof farmstead, where Anna Holzer will introduce them to the fascinating world of mountain herbs. Throughout the Hohe Tauern National Park there are countless herbs growing wild such as thyme and yellow yarrow, which is used to treat high blood pressure as well as kidney and skin complaints. The delicious dishes which Anna Holzer creates using these wild herbs are as weird and wonderful as "weed soup", "stinging nettle dumplings", "meadow lasagne" and "lamb in mountain hay".
The walk begins at the Strumerhof. The first section leads gently downhill through a shady larchwood forest to the car park at Zedlach Paradise (around 30 minutes). Walkers then enter an area of forest which is considered one of the most endangered natural landscapes in Austria. The 500-year-old trees here have been carefully cultivated over many centuries. For hundreds of years, local farmers have removed pine trees from the forest but left the larch trees to grow in order to provide shade for grazing cattle. There are seven information stations along the way giving an insight into this forest's history, flora and fauna. Follow the signs for "Waldlehrpfad" ("forest learning trail"). After a slight uphill section at the start, the trail flattens and remains level as it leads past a number of large sculptures and eventually back to the Strumerhof.