Wasserkar is a wild, high-altitude glacial basin (Kar) tucked into the Hochkönig massif above the Blühnbachtal valley. This is a place for those seeking real wilderness - it shelters one of the last remaining fragments of old-growth forest in the Alps.

This deeply cut valley is the karst spring catchment of the Wandbach stream, yet it remains entirely dry itself - water only emerges below the steep rock step separating Wasserkar from the Blühnbachtal. The valley is framed by the Hochtenneck-Niedertenneck ridge to the west and by the peaks Floßkogel and Alblegg to the east. To the south, another steep step near the Fliegerköpfl separates the basin from the karst plateau beneath the Übergossene Alm glacier. A natural larch forest grows here, emerging from a limestone scree spruce forest, stretching between 1350 and 1800 m - thanks to the inaccessible terrain and its former status as imperial hunting ground, it has survived in a remarkably untouched state.

• Wasserkar is entirely trackless and requires good local knowledge - there are no marked trails leading into it
• Nearby, a high-altitude trail runs from the Ostpreußenhütte to the Hochkönig above the eastern side; Tenneck is usually climbed from the south, also without markings, from where the terrain drops steeply into Wasserkar

• The area is protected as part of the Kalkhochalpen European protected area and managed by the Österreichische Bundesforste
• Due to the lack of trails and demanding terrain, access is recommended only for experienced mountaineers with local knowledge

It is a rare chance to see a fragment of alpine wilderness almost untouched by human hands - a relic increasingly hard to find in the Alps today.