Noric Alps - Geography

Geography

The area covers 9,811 km2 (3,788 sq mi) and stretches 97 km (60 mi) from the upper Mur River in the North to the Drava River in the South and 176 km (109 mi) from the Katschberg Pass in the West to the Mur River in the East. The Noric Alps are surrounded by the Hohe Tauern range in the West and the Low Tauern in the North, in the South they border on the Gailtal Alps, the Karavanke and Pohorje ranges of the Southern Limestone Alps.

The highest point is Mt. Eisenhut in Styria, which, at 2,441 m (8,009 ft), is only modest in the context of the Eastern Alps, where many mountains rise above 3000m (10,000ft). Other notable peaks in the range are Rosennock (2,440 m (8,010 ft)), Zirbitzkogel (2,396 m (7,861 ft)) and Großer Speikkogel (2,140 m (7,020 ft)).

In the south the Noric Alps comprise the Klagenfurt Basin with the historic centres of Zollfeld and Magdalensberg. The mountainside is characterised by transhumance (Alm) agriculture and was also a minig area, still for magnesite in the area of Radenthein. Today the region largely depends on tourism, in winter around the ski aras of Bad Kleinkirchheim, Krems, at Katschberg, Turracher Höhe and Klippitztörl, in summer around several picturesque Carinthian lakes like Wörthersee, Lake Millstatt or Lake Ossiach. The Nock Mountains National Park, accessible via the Nockalmstraße scenic road, is a protected landscape according to IUCN V category.