Hintersteiner See, Mountain lake in Scheffau am Wilden Kaiser, Austria

Hintersteiner See is a mountain lake near Scheffau am Wilden Kaiser sitting at 883 meters elevation, spreading across 56 hectares with turquoise water reaching 36 meters deep at its bottom. It is ringed by forested slopes that create natural walls around the water.

Hintersteiner See was formed during the last ice age and lies at 882–883 m above sea level in the Wilder Kaiser nature reserve. It is privately owned by Tiroler Wasserkraft AG, which uses it to generate electricity; the natural outflow runs east through the Seebach into the Weißache.

The lake is the setting of a local legend: wealthy farmers of Hinterstein played bowls with lumps of butter on their meadow and, after quarrelling over a spring even on Corpus Christi, sank with their farms; only one rooftop stayed above the water. The story says they were banished to the Scheffauer, where a mossy hollow below the peak is their bowling alley.

Swimming is available from May to September with a sandy beach, changing facilities, and a lakeside café along the eastern shore. A paid parking area sits right by the water, making arrival and parking straightforward.

The lake is privately owned by Tiroler Wasserkraft AG and used to generate electricity, while its natural outflow runs from the eastern end through the Seebach into the Weißache. A legend tells that wealthy Hinterstein farmers who played bowls with lumps of butter on their meadow sank with their farms into the depths, and must now play bowls below the Scheffauer peak for as long as the Kaiser mountain stands.