Grossglockner High Alpine Road, Toll mountain road in Hohe Tauern National Park, Austria
Grossglockner High Alpine Road is a 47.8 km toll road from Bruck an der Großglocknerstraße in Salzburg to Heiligenblut in Carinthia, crossing the Alpine divide. It climbs through numbered hairpin curves past the Ferleiten toll booth to the Fuscher Törl at 2,428 m and the Hochtor tunnel at 2,504 m, with a 1.5 km branch to the Edelweißspitze viewpoint at 2,571 m.
Construction began in 1924 and provided jobs for thousands of workers during the economic downturn following the 1929 stock market crash. The road opened in 1935 and became one of the most traveled scenic routes in the Alps.
The name comes from Grossglockner, the tallest peak in Austria at 3798 meters, visible from several points along the route. Along the way, exhibitions explain how people live in the Alps and how they adapt to the extreme conditions of this high mountain environment.
The toll road opens from early May through late October, with snow clearing operations carried out each year to keep it accessible during the season. Traveling early in the day helps avoid crowds at viewpoints and often brings clearer views of the peaks.
The Hochtor Pass was already a crossing point in the Hallstatt period, and since 1994 excavations have uncovered a Roman-era sanctuary there: fragments of about 20 bronze statuettes, Roman copper coins, Celtic silver coins from the 1st century BC, fibulae and jewellery along the ridge. A wooden board used in one shrine was dated to between the 2nd century BC and the 1st century AD.
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