Silvretta Road

The Silvretta Road (Silvretta-Hochalpenstrasse), completed in 1953, was built in association with the storage reservoirs supplying the power stations of the Ill hydroelectric scheme (Illwerke). A toll road open only in summer, it stretches from Partenen (1,027m/3,370ft to Galtür (1,584m/5,197ft), linking the Montafon valley with the Paznauntal. There are a number of fine lookout points, with large parking lots, from which the peaks and glaciers of the Silvretta group on the Swiss frontier appear breathtakingly close. The road climbs, with many sharp bends, to the Vermunt reservoir (1,743m/5,719ft) and the Gross-Vermunttal. On the highest point, the Bielerhöhe (2,032m/6,667ft) - the watershed between the Rhine and the Danube - lies the Silvretta reservoir, which has a capacity of 38.6million cu.m/8490million gallons.