Melnikfall

The Melnikfall is one of the bigger waterfalls in the Maltatal, in the region Kärnten, Austra. The waterfall is located at the beginning of the Malta hochalm strasse, just after the toll point. You have to pay €20 for a car to enter the Malta hochalm strasse.

From highway A10 it is a 16 kilometer drive into the Maltatal before you reach the Melnikfall. The Melnikfall is almost directly visible from the roadside after the toll point.

The Parking is a little bit hidden. You have to drive past the Melnikfall and after the first sharp bend in the road there is a big parking (gps 47.013848, 13.431262). From here the view is perfect but it is even better to walk back the road a bit where you can cross the river and a path leads to the bottom of the Melnikfall. From the parking this is a 5 minute walk. I think this is a  perfect place for a nice picnic.

The Melnikfall is one of the highest waterfalls in Austria and has a total height of approximately 300 meter. The source of the Melnikbach lies far up in the mountains at two lakes called Melniksee which are surrounded by several mountain peaks over 3.000 meter.

The Malta hochalm strasse is closed in wintertime and when we were there in May (years ago), the road was still closed, but we managed to drive up to the Melnikfall. The second time I visited the Melnikfall was July 2022 and there was a lot of water in the river.

Best time to visit the Melnikfall is the beginning of the summer when melted snow feeds the river Melnikbach and the volume of the Melnikfall increases. 

The Malatatal is one of the best valleys, in Austria, for visiting waterfalls. Other nice waterfalls in the Maltatal are: Hinterer Maralmfall, Fallbachfall, Gossfalle and the Schleierfall. The Fallbachfall is the biggest and most impressive waterfall in the Maltatal with a single drop of 150 meters and a quit impressive volume.