Hotels near Waldbachstrub Waterfall in the Echerntal Valley

Waldbachstrub is a three-tier waterfall at the head of the Echerntal, the wooded glacial valley that runs west from Hallstatt into the Dachstein foothills. The falls drop roughly 90 metres across three cascades fed by meltwater from the Hallstaetter Glacier above. The walk from the village to the base of the falls is about 5 kilometres one way, on a mostly flat forest track that passes the Gletschergarten - a small open-air geology exhibit showing potholes carved by the last ice age - and several timber shelters used by hikers in poor weather. There is no entry fee and no gate. The trail is open year-round, but the upper cascades run at full volume only from May to July during the spring melt; by September the flow is a fraction of that. Allow three to four hours for the round trip on foot, or use an e-bike rental from the village to cut it in half.

Pro Tip: Continue 20 minutes past the falls to the Simony Denkmal, a stone memorial to the 19th-century Dachstein cartographer Friedrich Simony - the flat rock beside it is where local hikers stop for lunch, and it holds one of the best views of the glacier from the valley floor.