Liechtensteinklamm, Natural monument in Sankt Johann im Pongau, Austria.
The Liechtensteinklamm is a slot canyon in the Alps where a stream has cut through limestone walls over time. Walkways and bridges zigzag upward through the narrow gorge, allowing visitors to climb alongside the flowing water as the rock faces rise steeply on either side.
The stream carved through the rock over thousands of years, but became a place for visitors only in the 1800s. A prince funded secure pathways in 1875 that transformed the inaccessible gorge into something people could actually walk through.
The gorge takes its name from the principality that once funded its pathways. Visitors walk along rock walls shaped by rushing water, connecting them directly to how this landscape was carved by natural forces.
The path gets steep in places and requires good shoes with grip for climbing over wet rocks. It helps to go early in the day when fewer visitors are around, making the narrow passages easier to navigate.
A newer spiral staircase winds upward through the rocks, offering views straight up and down the gorge from a perspective most walkers miss. The metal structure lets visitors climb higher and see how the water flows below from above, creating a completely different sense of the place.
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