Admont-Gesäuse car park network

After 5 years of preparation, the parking management system will go into operation on 1.1.2023.

The Gesäuse National Park, the only national park in Styria and its largest area where nature can develop freely, has been trying to improve the parking situation for 5 years.

From the new year, parking in the Gesäuse National Park and the most important car parks in its vicinity, such as on the Buchau, will be subject to a charge. A parking ticket for one calendar day will cost 6 euros. The money generated will be earmarked for improving the car parks and maintaining the hiking trails.

In 2017, there were initial talks and efforts to get the summer parking chaos on the Salza and the winter parking congestion in Johnsbach under control. On the Salza, the municipality of Landl soon found a solution. In Johnsbach, existing parking spaces slipped into the red zone with the revision of torrent and avalanche hazards, and then it was a matter of closing them or creating safe parking spaces.

"As a national park, we felt we had a responsibility and took the initiative," says National Park Director Herbert Wölger, explaining that improving the quality of the parking areas and better regulation were long overdue.

Just in time for the start of the ski touring season, two new car parks for about 70 cars each were built in the rear Johnsbachtal and the Grabneralm car park on the Buchau was enlarged. Forestry Director Andreas Holzinger from the Styrian Provincial Forests, which are responsible for the Buchau, explains that the capacity of parking spaces has already been significantly expanded and that further parking spaces will be invested in for 2023.

The new parking spaces allow for better and safer parking, are intended to prevent complaints from residents, as they have repeatedly occurred in the past, and also limit the maximum number of cars. Because there is one thing neither the National Park nor the tourism association wants: so many ski tourers that the typical nature experience of the Gesaeuse is lost for the individual.

Enquiry notice:

Herbert Wölger, Tel: 0664-82 52 300

Markus Blank, Tel: 0664-82 52 321