Höllengebirge

The Höllengebirge is a mountain range in the Upper Austrian part of the Salzkammergut and is part of the Northern Limestone Alps. The high plateau, which averages in elevation, reaches its highest point at the Großer Höllkogel with . The heavily karstified mountain consists primarily of Wetterstein limestone and drains mostly underground. The Höllengebirge is developed for tourism with mountain huts and an extensive network of trails. There are ski areas at the Feuerkogel and near the Taferlklaussee. The Feuerkogel is accessible year-round via the Feuerkogelseilbahn from Ebensee am Traunsee. Forests are present only on the flanks of the mountain. The plateau itself is covered with extensive stands of mountain pine (Pinus mugo). The Höllengebirge is owned by the Austrian Federal Forests. The name derives from the cirque "In der Höll" on the south side of the mountain.

== Geography == thumb|Topographic map of the Höllengebirge thumb|The south side of the Höllengebirge seen from the southwest from the air The Höllengebirge has a maximum extent of 17 km from the Attersee in the west to the Traunsee in the east and 11 km from north to south; it covers a total area of 126.8 km². The northern boundary is formed by the Kienbach, which flows from the Krahbergtaferl saddle to the Attersee, and the upper course of the Aurach from the Taferlklaussee to the Großalm. The boundary runs up to the high Lueg saddle, down to the Hinterer Langbathsee, and along the Langbathbach to its mouth in the Traunsee in Ebensee. In the southeast, the area between Ebensee and Mitterweißenbach is bounded by the Traun. The southwestern boundary between Mitterweißenbach and Weißenbach am Attersee is the Weißenbachtal. The boundary is closed along the Attersee shore between Weißenbach and Seefeld. Administratively, the Höllengebirge lies in the Vöcklabruck District (west), part of the Hausruckviertel, and the Gmunden District (east), part of the Traunviertel. Historically, the entire Höllengebirge belonged to the Hausruckviertel, which at that time extended to the Traun, but today the boundary between Hausruckviertel and Traunviertel follows the district boundary and runs from the Krahbergtaferl to the Hochleckenhaus, over the Grünalmkogel and to the Hohe Rehstatt to the Weißenbacher Straße in the south. The following municipalities in the Gmunden District have shares in the Höllengebirge: the town of Bad Ischl with part of the cadastral municipality of Jainzen, the market town of Ebensee with the cadastral municipality of Langwies and parts of the cadastral municipality of Oberlangbath, and the market town of Altmünster with parts of the cadastral municipality of Neukirchen. In the Vöcklabruck District, the Höllengebirge extends over most of the municipality of Steinbach am Attersee.