Steirischer Bodensee Waterfall

The Steirischer Bodensee Waterfall had to have been one of the most scenically situated waterfalls that I encountered on our epic Germany and Austria trip in the Summer of 2018. As you can see from the photo at the top of this page, it was an impressively tall waterfall fronted by the reflective Bodensee Lake.

By the way, they had to put the Steirischer (Styrian) in front of the name Bodensee because there was a much larger Bodensee (Lake Constance) way over by the border with Germany and Switzerland. I think it’s because the Styrian version of the lake was smaller and more intimate, it also meant it possessed that mirror-like quality in addition to being a much quieter alpine experience.

From the car park by the Seewigtal Stüberl right at the intersection of the left (west) approach from Haus im Ennstal and the right (east) approach from Aich (see directions below), I then followed a well used trail that led right past the cafe. Then, I hiked roughly 25 minutes along paved path as it gently followed the Bodenseeweg alongside the Seewigtalbach for about 700m slowly revealing parts of the Steirischer Bodensee Waterfall en route.

Eventually, the pavement ended right at the mouth of the beautiful Steirischer Bodensee Lake, where there was a fish farm as well as another accommodation or cafe called the Gasthof Forellenhof. While the views from here were very captivating and compelled me to linger for quite a while trying to figure out how best to compose several photos of the scene, I also took the time to get closer to the waterfall.

At this point, I had a choice of direction to take since there was a loop trail that went completely around the lake. The continuation to the Steirischer Bodensee Waterfall was at the exact opposite end of the lake so there wasn’t any advantage of going one way or the other.

I opted to keep right and walk the loop in a counterclockwise manner. So after another 750m or so of walking around the western shore of the lake (taking me another 25 minutes or so), I reached the junction at the far end of the lake. Along the way, I noticed that there was some degree of sedimentation on the lake as it transformed from a body of water to a swamp and then ultimately to a muddy area at its head. That made me wonder if this lake’s eventual future would be a meadow in much the same way that Mirror Lake in Yosemite National Park wound up becoming in the drier Summer months.

In any case, I continued on from there as the path now started climbing in earnest. After going up a series of inclines and switchbacks, the path degenerated more into a narrower series of switchbacks with some mild degree of hiking between large boulders.

After another 500m or so of the pretty tiring uphill climb, I finally reached the base of the Steirischer Bodensee Waterfall. It took me a little over an hour to get here from the car park. While the falls looked shorter from this up close, I was able to feel some of the refreshing light spray while also glimpsing the lake and Seewigtal Valley from a different and more elevated perspective.

This was my turnaround point though it was apparently possible to continue on with this hike towards even higher alpine lakes and huts. And on the return, I opted to take the bridge over a pair of converging streams before finishing off the loop and returning to the mouth of the lake after another 800m from the junction at the head of the lake.

By the time I made it back to the car park, I wound up hiking a total of around 4km, and I spent about 2 hours away from the car.