Kauner Tal Attractions

From the Gepatschhaus (1,928m/6,326ft; accommodation) the Weissseespitze (3,526m/11,596ft), on the Italian frontier, can be climbed (with guide).

From Prutz the road continues past the village of Kauns and up the valley, passing the ruins of the 13th C. Burg Berneck above the road on the left, and soon afterwards Grimstein, with the church of Mariä Himmelfahrt (the Assumption of Our Lady).

8km/5mi beyond the village of Feichten (1,289m/4,230ft) the dam of the Gepatsch reservoir is reached. From here there is a toll road 15km/9mi long to the summer ski resort at Weissseeferner (lifts).

The Gepatsch reservoir (dam 630m/670yds long and 130m/430ft high) is 6km/4mi long and has a capacity of 140million cubic meters/30,795million gallons. A narrow road 8.5km/5mi long skirts the lake to the Gepatsch-Alm (2,000m/6,560ft) at the head of the valley.

The Gepatsch reservoir was built in 1961.

3km/2mi and 10km/6mi respectively west of Prutz, on a terrace above the Inn, lie the spas and winter sports resorts of Ladis (1,190m/3,904ft) and Obladis (1,386m/4,547ft), both with sulfurous mineral springs. Ladis is known for its old rural houses (15th-16th C.) with painted facades.

The road up the valley from Prutz continues along the Kauner Tal Panoramic Glacier Road up to a height of 2,750m/9,025ft (Glacier Restaurant). A chairlift takes visitors up to 3,010m/9,880ft; a further 25 minutes' climb brings them to a spot near the Karlespitze (3,160m/10,371ft) from where Austria, Italy and Switzerland can be seen (The "Three Country View").

The little summer resort of Prutz (866m/2,841ft; pop. 1,300) lies at the mouth of the Kauner valley on the upper Inn. It has some quaintly-built old forts and the parish church (remodeled in Gothic style c. 1520 and in Baroque in the 17th C.) has a St Anthony chapel of 1676. A hydro-electric station in the village uses water which is piped down under pressure from the Gepatsch reservoir through a tunnel 14.8km/9mi long.