Maple floor

Maple stock in the Großer Ahornboden

The northern Ahornboden from the Sonnjoch west flank

The Großer and Kleine Ahornboden are two alpine meadows with impressive landscapes and old mountain maple stocks in the northern Karwendel . Both are located in Austria and are part of a Tyrolean-Bavarian landscape and nature reserve (since 1928).

Large maple back

Sign "Großer Ahornboden"

The Großer Ahornboden is located at the end of the Riss valley , the Enger Tal, just before the village of Eng between 1080 and 1300 m above sea level. A. in the municipality of Vomp ( Schwaz district ). Human settlement took place here in 4500 BC. Instead of. In 1927 the "maple trees near the Alpe Eng on the great Ahornboden" were declared a natural monument; it is one of the oldest protected natural monuments in Tyrol. On December 20, 1988, the Großer Ahornboden was designated as a landscape protection area, which covers 267.28 hectares . It is also part of the Karwendel Alpine Park .

The area is covered with numerous 300 to 600 year old and very gnarled maple trees. In 1966, 2409 trees were counted. It is unclear why this extensive tree population was able to develop in the area that was used as pasture for centuries. Cattle epidemics or the Thirty Years War may have resulted in the valley floor not being grazed for a long time. Mountain maples are around 500 years old, so many of the trees in the Great Maple Soil have reached their natural age limit. Since natural regeneration does not work due to changes in soil and water conditions and grazing by cattle and game, dead trees are replaced by new plantings.

The Großer Ahornboden can be reached from Hinterriß via a toll road , which is closed to tourism in winter .

Small maple back

The small maple floor

Hermann von Barth monument in the Kleiner Ahornboden

The Kleine Ahornboden is located at the southern end of the Johannestal at around 1400 m above sea level. A. ( 47 ° 24 ′ 59 ″ N , 11 ° 28 ′ 2 ″ E ) directly below the steep north face of the Hinterautal-Vomper chain . It is also part of the Karwendel nature reserve in the Karwendel Alpine Park. It can be reached on foot in around 2.5 hours from Hinterriß and around 2 hours from the Karwendelhaus . With the mountain bike this time is reduced to approx. 1:15 h. 47.416388888889 11.467222222222 1399

In the Kleiner Ahornboden there is a memorial for Hermann von Barth , the “developer of the Karwendel”.

drainage

The Große Ahornboden is drained by the Rißbach , the Kleine Ahornboden by its tributary Johannesbach . The Rissbach is dammed behind the border with Germany and its water is fed through a tunnel to the Niedernach run-of-river power station on the south bank of Lake Walchen .