Gunstner Waterfall

The Gunstner Waterfall (or more accurately Günstner or Guenstner) was certainly another one of the quieter waterfalls that I’ve encountered during our epic Summer 2018 trip to Austria. With a cumulative drop of 65m over at least three main drops having an average flow of 200-250 L/s, it was also said to be the highest waterfall in the province of Styria (which is saying something because I swore I saw something taller at the Steirischer Bodensee).

Nevertheless, even with this superlative to hang its hat on, I think the main reason why this particular waterfall didn’t quite have the same fanfare as most of the other waterfalls was its location. It didn’t seem to be on any route that tended to get a lot more tourism traffic, since it sat towards the mountainous and less-populated south-central part of Austria near Krakaudorf. Still, the relative peace and quiet of this excursion was very refreshing.

There were actually a pair of parking areas to start the walk to the Gunstner Waterfall (see directions below). The nearest one was in a clearing by a cafe and little animal park. After only 160m or so, I reached a signed fork. It turned out that this fork was the beginning and end of a loop. So I kept right to check out the waterfall immediately.

So after passing a little money drop (which was strangely open so anything you put in there might surely be taken unless it’s cheap change), I found myself on a boardwalk hugging the adjacent cliff wall. After a few paces more, I was right in front of the bottom of the Gunstner Waterfall with its multi-tiered drop while also spanned by a bridge over its brink.

The trail continued as it climbed up a series of steep steps alongside the waterfall before reaching a junction. At this junction, I couldn’t go straight and follow that path to the footbridge spanning the brink of the falls because it was closed due to repair work that was going on. So instead, I went left and up another steep series of steps before I found myself at the top.

At that point, I then descended towards the cliff edge on the left, where there were a couple of top down lookouts over the entirety of the Gunstner Waterfall even though there was some cliff and foliage obstructions ensuring that I’d never really get a clean look.

After having my fill of these spots, I then descended the slope some more before rejoining the start of the loop. Then, I continued back the way I came to complete the excursion. Now in hindsight, I actually started from a further car park alongside the narrow road it took to get here from Krakaudorf. So that walk added an additional 600m (maybe 10-15 minutes) in each direction. So in total, I spent about an hour away from the car even with the inadvertent extra hiking.