Partnach Gorge, Canyon in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.

The Partnach Gorge is a 700-metre-long cleft cut by the Partnach stream through dark grey and brown Alpine muschelkalk, over 80 metres deep in places. The path runs on the right bank of the stream, past wet rock walls streaked vertically, with thin waterfalls dropping from the upper edges. At the southern end a 108-metre gallery blasted into the rock in 1992, lit by windows, bypasses the boulders of the 1991 rockfall.

In the 18th century locals used the gorge to float firewood from the Reintal to Partenkirchen, and until the 1960s timber marked with the owner's Hausmarch was driven down the Partnach; men died freeing jammed logs, and picture panels at a wayside cross between the Olympiastadion and the gorge entrance recall these accidents. The gorge was designated a natural monument in 1912 and opened to tourists that same year. On 1 June 1991 about 5,000 m³ of rock broke from the southern wall, blocking the old path and the stream; since 1992 a 108 m gallery blasted into the rock, lit by windows, bypasses the rockfall and the small dammed lake.

From the 18th century locals walked the gorge to float firewood from the Reintal down to Partenkirchen, a job that killed men who freed jammed logs; picture panels at a wayside cross between the Olympiastadion and the gorge entrance recall them. Log drives continued until the 1960s, each trunk marked with the owner's Hausmarch sign. The 1979 film Nosferatu the Vampyre used the gorge as a location.

The entrance is about a 30-minute walk from the train station in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, and parking is available nearby if you come by car. Wear waterproof shoes with good grip and bring a rain jacket, as water often drips from the walls and the paths can be slippery, especially after rain or during the colder months when ice forms.

The 1979 film Nosferatu the Vampyre, directed by Werner Herzog, used the gorge as a location. A 108-metre gallery blasted into the rock in 1992 bypasses the debris of a rockfall on 1 June 1991, when about 5,000 m³ of rock broke off at the southern end and dammed the Partnach into a small lake. Windows in the gallery look out on the boulders and the water.