The Solktäler Naturpark is located in the mountains of Upper Styria, Austria.

Our tour begins in the small community of Groszsölk with its several buildings skilfully decorated and embedded within the green landscape. When the Admont Monastery was founded, the Archbishop of Salzburg donated the "Selicha" Estate to the monastery. First mentioned in a document of 1080 A.D., the name Sölk is of Slavic origin and means "running water". An idyllic picture-book village situated in lush green meadows and fertile forests and surrounded by the mountain peaks of the Tauern Mountains.

Our route leads into the Little-Sölk Valley along the Strub Ravine, closer and closer to the mountains. The dense forest hardly shows little access through the gorge. Small bridges lead again and again over the Sölk Creek and the dense forest only lets sparse sunlight through.

The romantic mountain village of Kleinsölk forms the entrance to the homonymous Kleinsölk-Valley an image of how the city dweller imagines rural life with well-kept farmhouses and colourful floral balconies, and above all, silence. The always hungry dairy cows graze in lush green alpine meadows and a small chapel on the slope seems to guard both village and valley.

Hohensee-Creek flows leisurely through the high alpine pastures. It has its origin in Lake Hohen. The creek gradually disappears between the mountain slopes. The Fire Salamander is to be found here at the edge of the forest, where it leads a hidden life between boulders and beneath tree roots. This nocturnal animal needs moisture and above all the possibility to hide.

The Sölk-Valleys are characterized by the "Wild Lower Tauern", rugged mountains up to three thousand metres above sea level. A unique wealth of plants can also be found here despite the dizzying heights, a wonderland of alpine flowers and a first glance at the Hornfeldspitze rewards every mountain hiker who has mastered the steep path to the summit.