Black lake and large Mutzkopf

Travel by car from Fiss to Nauders. Take the Mutzkopf chairlift up to the Kleiner Mutzkopf (1812 m). From the mountain station, route no. 9 leads slightly downhill through the forest to the Black Lake. Continue along trail no. 6a to the Green Lake. The naturally protected mountain lake is relatively warm and is ideal for a swim in summer. Continuing in a south-easterly direction, a short, steep climb takes you to the Großmutzwiesen and the turn-off to the Großmutzkopf. From here, take trail no. 6 across the Partoangswiesen meadows. Short steep sections and flat meadow hollows lead on to the highest elevation of the Grosser Mutzkopf (1987m) with a beautiful view of Lake Reschen and the Ortler group! On the way back, follow trail no. 7 past the Tiefhof and Riatschhof farms and via a ski trail (no. 5a) to the valley meadows in Nauders.

The Schwarze See - a moorland lake lies dark and mysteriously surrounded by spruce and stone pine forests between the Grosser and Kleiner Mutzkopf at over 1,700 m above sea level near the border with Switzerland. Due to its incredibly rich flora and fauna, it is one of Tyrol's natural monuments and has been under special protection since 1968.

The Schwarze See is a natural jewel of unique charm. It is located in a moorland area - mountain pine raised bog in the north, fescue grassland and fen in the south - with very specific and species-rich flora and fauna. Mallards and tufted ducks are at home here, nesting and breeding. There are no fish in the lake, as they could not survive in the low-oxygen water. Instead, frogs, toads, dragonflies and many other rare insects can be found.

The highest water lilies in Austria

Various marsh plants, grasses, alpine roses, blueberries and cranberries can be found along the banks. Particularly striking are the many water lilies, which thrive at this altitude in a unique density and transform the lake into a sea of flowers. The surrounding moorlands are also of great interest to scientists in terms of vegetation history. Organic matter is well preserved in the bog soil, so that samples taken from it provide information about the plant growth since the last ice age around 10,000 years ago.

In the course of history, man has already inflicted a few wounds on this natural jewel. In the 19th century, peat was cut for heating and water was diverted from the lake via irrigation channels to the agricultural meadows near Nauders. In the 1960s, there were plans to develop the lake into a bathing lake, for which a non-swimmer's pool had already been dredged. Fortunately, however, the metre-deep moorland put paid to this project and nature has long since regenerated.