Maple trees
Old and gnarled.
Heribert Pohl --- Thanks for half a million clicks! from Germering bei München, Bayern — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Fraenky74 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Heribert Pohl --- Thanks for half a million clicks! from Germering bei München, Bayern — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Heribert Pohl --- Thanks for half a million clicks! from Germering bei München, Bayern — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Fraenky74 — CC BY-SA 4.0
The Großer Ahornboden is an alpine pasture at the head of the Riss valley in the northern Karwendel range of Tyrol, Austria, near the hamlet of Eng in the municipality of Vomp, about 21 km northeast of Innsbruck in a straight line. It lies between 1,080 and 1,300 metres. It is famous for its old, gnarled sycamore maples, between 300 and 600 years old; 2,409 trees were counted in 1966. The maples were declared a natural monument in 1927, one of the oldest such protections still in force in Tyrol, and in 1988 the pasture became a protected landscape of 267 hectares, part of the Karwendel Nature Park. People have lived in the area since 4500 BC. Huge twisted maples stand scattered across a broad green meadow on the floor of a U-shaped valley, ringed by towering grey limestone walls of the Karwendel. In autumn the maple leaves turn gold and orange, making it one of the loveliest scenes in the Alps, and cattle graze the meadow in summer. Visitors walk the paths among the trees and on to the hamlet of Eng and its pastures at the end of the valley. Autumn, from late September into October, is the finest season for the maple colours; the valley is reached from Hinterriss by a toll road open May to October, or on foot in about two and a half hours.
Old and gnarled.
Gold and orange.
Limestone walls.
Eng, Vomp, Schwaz district, Tyrol, Austria
Late September to October.
A toll road from Hinterriss, May to October.