Dobratsch, Mountain summit near Villach, Austria

Dobratsch is a mountain summit near Villach, Austria, reaching 2,166 meters and featuring limestone formations that create karst landscapes throughout the range. The massive stretches across a large area and offers multiple entry points for hiking.

On 25 January 1348 an earthquake in Friuli triggered a rockfall of about 150 million cubic metres from the south-east flank, today called the Rote Wand. The debris, known as Die Schütt, buried 17 villages according to historical sources and dammed the Gail into a lake some three kilometres long; two villages were abandoned and the last water disappeared in the 18th century. A prehistoric collapse had already deposited around 900 million cubic metres there.

The mountain is also called Villacher Alpe in German and Dobrač in Slovenian, names used by both language groups in Carinthia. Since 2002 the area has been a nature park of about 8,200 hectares, run on four pillars: protection, education, recreation and regional development, with research added in 2021. The summit house built by the Austrian Alpine Club in 2010 replaced a shelter dating from 1810, known as the Ludwig-Walter-Haus from 1921.

The Villacher Alpenstrasse road provides parking areas and multiple trail access points on the mountain. Visitors should prepare for changing weather at higher elevations and bring appropriate gear.

The mountain's underground karst aquifer system supplies drinking water to Villach through a network of vertical caves and sinkholes. This hidden water system holds great practical importance for the region.