Trail description:
The starting point is at the Jamnigalm car park, where you can enjoy incredible views of the mighty valley basin with the dominant Gesselspitze.
From here, the wide trail goes uphill quite leisurely, past an enchanted forest named Höllgrübl. Not long after that, you will encounter a sign "Alte Römerstraße" (Ancient Roman road). The trail then continues past the Tauern cross which highlights the dangers of the mountains, to the Tauernhaus. This once served as shelter for the mule traders who used to cross the Mallnitz Tauern mountains during the gold mining era. And soon you'll see the Hagener hut standing proud at an impressive pass height of 2,446 metres above sea level. After a break, then you will go back down along the same route to the Jamnigalm car park.
Tip: Guide "Kulturwanderweg Römerstraßen" (only available in German), € 6.20, available from the Mallnitz visitor centre
Special features:
Only in rare instances have these early historic monuments been kept above surface. These include the two Roman roads over the Mallnitzer and Korn Tauern passes. Powerful roadways made of dry stone, long transversal paths cutting through steep slopes, create a spectacular impression of Roman road building skills. As the true masters of road building, the Romans constructed trade routes across the Hohe Tauern region around 2,000 years ago. Remnants of which can still be found to this very day. In recent centuries, the Roman roads were the scene for lively mule trading. Salt, precious metals and wool were transported to the South, with wine, precious oils and spices being taken to the North. The loads weighed between 60 and 170 kg that the traders their animals carried over the mountain passes of the Alps.