Stoneman Taurista

Whether you tackle the 147 km of the Stoneman Taurista in one, two or three days, you can expect everything that makes mountain biking in the Salzburger Sportwelt so unique. Countless alpine pastures and huts, plenty of water in streams, rivers and mountain lakes, dense, dark forests and the rugged mountain world of the Tauern - the variety here between mountain and valley, between stream and lake is huge. On the other hand, there are the experiences along the way: 360° panoramas, trails, a whiskey distillery on the mountain and a very special waterfall. So there are many reasons to make an absolute highlight of the Stoneman Taurista a signature trail.

Since the 2024 bike season, not only is the checkpoint at the Edelweiss-Alm finally back on the Stoneman Taurista, but the brand new checkpoint at the Kurzeggalm high above Kleinarl is also waiting for you. Two new trails make the Stoneman Taurista even better!

• New panorama checkpoint at the summit of the Penkkopf high above Wagrain-Kleinarl
• 2 new checkpoints: Edelweiss-Alm & Kurzeggalm
• New trail highlights: Shared-Trail-Penkkopf & Hirschleit-Trail in Kleinarl

Our trail highlight - the Stoneman Taurista - first takes us from Flachau via Wagrain-Kleinarl to Altenmarkt-Zauchensee.

From here we start with a highlight: the Rossbrand summit. The Grasberg, which at first glance seems unspectacular, offers a tremendous 360° panorama - from the Dachstein to the Bischofsmütze and the Großglockner. Love at second sight. The first thing to do here is to linger, let your gaze wander and soak up the sea of summits. We are lucky - the sun is shining above us and the surrounding mountains are shrouded in hazy clouds. This gives the impressive panorama even more depth. After we've had our fill, we happily stamp our Stoneman starter card and off we go on a top-class MTB adventure.

We ride along narrow paths through an upland moor. The meadows around us are populated by cotton grass - as if you were riding over a blanket of white clouds. The gentle ups and downs continue downhill over roots and stones - at times technical, at other times challenging - a real treat.

Our next, no less impressive stop is the Johannes Waterfall near Obertauern. Archduke Johann, the brother of Emperor Franz I, gave the waterfall its name back in the day and had a railing erected during his visit - so that the general public could safely admire the natural spectacle bearing his name.

We reach the waterfall, which has been protected as a natural monument since 1931, via a narrow path lined with hairpin bends, which once again demands all our attention. Because there are no railings here. After stamping our tickets, we leave our bikes at the Stoneman signpost. The stamping gives us a surprisingly good feeling - after all, every single stamp is physical proof of what we have achieved. A paper reward that you hold in your hands.

the Johannes waterfall now plunges60 metres into the depths in front of us, conjuring up kitschy rainbows in the air in combination with the sun. The water mist cools us down pleasantly and we climb the steps up the well-maintained circular waterfall trail feeling refreshed.

Our last highlight of the Stoneman day is the trail from Sattelbauer down to Flachau. The mountain adventure inn is, as the name suggests, situated on a mountain saddle high above Flachau. The planners have really gone the extra mile for this last descent: It descends along narrow paths and at the very end, a new passage was even created in the forest especially for the Stoneman Taurista. Our tyres literally soak up the fresh forest floor and we glide further and further towards the valley.