''Seefelder Straße'' (B 177) is a 21.2 km long former federal road or ''Bundesstraße'' - now classified as a "priority road" or ''Straße mit Vorrang'' - in the

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

in the

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n federal state of

Tyrol Tyrol ( ; historically the Tyrole; ; ) is a historical region in the Alps of Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary, f ...

. It links the

Inn valley The Inn (; ; ) is a river in Switzerland, Austria and Germany. The long river is a right tributary of the Danube, being the third largest tributary of the Danube by discharge. The highest point of its drainage basin is the summit of Piz Bernin ...

with

Scharnitz Scharnitz is a municipality in the district of Innsbruck-Land in the Austrian state of Tyrol located north of Innsbruck and from Seefeld in Tirol on the German border. It is one of the largest municipalities and has 10 parts: Au, Eisack, Gi ...

and the Scharnitz Pass on the border with

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, running past the

Zirler Berg The Zirler Berg near Zirl in the Austrian federal state of Tyrol is a mountain, high, in the Karwendel Alps, a western part of the Northern Limestone Alps. It is a southern foothill of the Reither Spitze (2,374 m) and is known mainly b ...

, over the

Seefeld Saddle The Seefeld Saddle () is a saddle and mountain pass, , in the Northern Limestone Alps in the Austrian federal state of Tyrol. Two major transport routes run over it: the ''Seefelder Straße'' (B 177) and the Mittenwald Railway. On the Seefe ...

and past Seefeld. It is part of the E533

European route The international E-road network is a numbering system for roads in Europe developed by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). The network is numbered from E1 up and its roads cross national borders. It also reaches Central ...

. The Karwendel Railway runs more or less parallel with the Seefelder Straße, crossing it several times.

Route

The ''Seefelder Straße'' runs through the

Northern Limestone Alps The Northern Limestone Alps (), also called the Northern Calcareous Alps, are the ranges of the Eastern Alps north of the Central Eastern Alps located in Austria and the adjacent Bavarian lands of southeastern Germany. The distinction from the ...

, between the mountain ranges of the

Karwendel The Karwendel is the largest mountain range of the Northern Limestone Alps. It is located on the Austria–Germany border. The major part belongs to the Austrian federal state of Tyrol (state), Tyrol, while the adjacent area in the north is part ...

(max. ) to the east, the

Mieminger Mountains The Mieming(er) Range, Mieminger Chain () or Mieminger Mountains (''Mieminger Gebirge''), is a mountain range of the Northern Limestone Alps in the Eastern Alps. It is located entirely in Austria within the state of Tyrol. This sub-group is s ...

(or: ''Mieming Chain''; max. 2,768 m) to the west and the

Wetterstein Mountains The Wetterstein mountains (), colloquially called Wetterstein, is a mountain group in the Northern Limestone Alps within the Eastern Alps, crossing the Austria–Germany border. It is a comparatively compact range located between Garmi ...

(max. ) to the northwest. The road runs in a generally northwesterly direction from the junction of ''Zirl-Ost'' (ca. ) on the

Inn Valley Autobahn The Inn Valley Motorway or Inntal Autobahn A12 is an autobahn in the Austrian federal state of Tyrol and part of Euroroutes E45 and E60. It begins as a continuation of the German Bundesautobahn 93 on the German-Austrian border near Kiefersfe ...

(the A 12), initially heading east and then north past

Zirl Zirl is a municipality and market town in the district of Innsbruck-Land in the Austrian state of Tyrol. It is known for its parish church, UNESCO-recognised ''Zachäussingen'' celebration, and history of nativity scene–making. Situated at an ...

(622 m), where it runs over the south and east flanks of the

(1,057 m) with a maximum gradient of 16% and only one

hairpin bend A hairpin or hair pin is a long device used to hold a person's hair in place. It may be used simply to secure long hair out of the way for convenience or as part of an elaborate hairstyle or coiffure. The earliest evidence for dressing the h ...

; there it is also known as the Zirlerbergstraße. It then runs through Leithen (1,009 m) to Reith (1,130 m), which it passes to the east.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seefelder Strasse Roads in Austria Transport in Tyrol (federal state)