The Gmoos Nature Reserve near Hartberg in eastern Styria is a protected wetland remnant: ponds, flood meadows, and riparian woodland surviving amid the agricultural landscape that replaced most of this habitat type in the 19th and 20th centuries. Migratory birds use the ponds in spring and autumn. Free to walk; 1.5 to 2 hours circuit. Hartberg is 1 hour by rail from Graz. Eastern Styria is rarely visited by international travelers and has a distinctly different character from alpine Austria: rolling vineyard and orchard hills more reminiscent of Slovenia than the Tirol.
nature reserve in Hartberg
Gmoos Nature Reserve
The Gmoos Nature Reserve is a protected wetland area near Hartberg in eastern Styria, a rare remaining example of the lowland floodplain habitats that once covered significant parts of the Austrian foothill zone before drainage and agricultural development transformed most of them.
- Type
- nature reserve
- Destination
- Hartberg
- Cost
- Free to visit
- Address
- 8230 Hartberg
- Coordinates
- 47.2731, 15.9765