Welcome to the Aqua Hiking Trail! We suggest starting your hike at the Gemeindepark just above the municipal offices. There is a turbine wheel, a fountain and a paddling pool in the park. There is a bus stop next to the fountain where you can catch the bus to the Latschau reservoir. From there you can see the Luener Lake and the Latschau power plants as well as the Latschau reservoir.   »

The Vorarlberg Ill Power Plant Corp. is an electricity supplier that produces peak and control energy. Lakes in the Silvretta and Raetikon store inflowing water and release it at the power plant, 1,000 metres below. Because energy cannot be stored in large quantities, the power plants must produce the exact amount of energy needed at the moment; or it could cause power failures on the network.   »

The Latschau power plant is a free standing building. When it began, the Lake Luener plant was the biggest pump storage plant in the world. Apart from storage and energy utilization of the low natural inflow of Lake Luener and the Lake Luener power plant, they are mostly used for the annual reservoir and the circulating pump storage. The Luener plant opened in1958 with five groups of machines.   »

You are at the Golmer Brook. In 1879 Latschau was buried in a 3 meter deep mud flow. In 1933 mud flows partly destroyed the protection walls. Constructions to protect the cultural landscape were begun in 1935.The torrent construction was built during construction of the Lake Luener plant. The Loretz Ferdinand estate is about three minutes from here.   »

The sprightly man, born in 1910 should be called Säge-Ferdi or Sawyer Ferdi instead of Mülli Ferdi which means Miller’s Ferdi because the mill is gone, but the sawmill is still standing and Ferdi still runs it today.   »

Discover the Rasafei Brook which drains the Gauer Valley starting at the Swiss border. The catchment area is 29 km² with a length of 6.5 km. Floods in the 18th and 19th centuries turned the Rasfei Brook into a raging torrent in the eyes of the inhabitants. In 1919 it destroyed 3 houses, washed all the bridges away and covered the meadows with mud. In 1959 they started taming the brook.   »

Just past the bridge is a path that leads through the canyon. To go through here you need good, non-slip shoes. We’ll take the path over the meadows, through the forest and towards Mount Zieger from where there is a magnificent view of the Schruns-Tschagguns basin. Keep going till we cross the chair lift line; 40 minutes later we cross the Ziegerberg Street and come to the Tilisuna path.   »

Below the Bath Path, is a fen meadow. The source of the sulphur spring is here. The spring doesn’t deliver enough to be able to be used commercially. Years ago the locals would collect healing water to cure their digestion problems, rheumatism and inflammations. Please don’t look for the spring; only the locals know its exact location. The sharp reed grasses could cut your arms and legs.   »

Just a few meters down the Bad Path, you can hear the sound of the Leder Spring, known to the locals as the Leder Brook. It is one of the biggest springs in Europe bringing up to 400 litres/sec at a constant temperature of 4° C. It is owned by the Vorarlberg Power Plant Corp. who feeds the water through a tunnel to the Bitschweil reservoir.   »

Dramatic floods and mud flows have defined the history of the people here since the 18th century. In 1910 a large portion of the district was covered by a mud flow. They had POW’s cultivate the land during WWII.In 1966 a small saw mill was destroyed and a number of houses were in danger of being destroyed. It was only with the deployment of heavy machinery that a catastrophe was avoided.   »

The name Bitschweil, first documented in 1496, comes from the Romanian word „pascuale“and means pasture or mountain meadow. It is 1,100 meters above sea level and except for the two houses left, was affected by migration of the populace. The old school house is worth seeing. Seminars are held here to give children an idea of what school was like back then.   »

Parts of the path from the Gampadel Valley that used to pass by this goat pen were washed away in the floods of 1966 and it can’t be used anymore. The danger of rock slides make it impossible to repair. Before WWII the goats kept the flora in check but today the rampant growing creepers are a botanical nuisance due to the comparatively small number of goats.   »

The water from the Gampadel Brook was fed to the millrace, where it ran Torlas Mill, the Bohnerlis Mill and the Muelliwiebers Mill. A sawmill and a smith also knew how to use the water from the brook. The millrace can’t be seen today as it was filled with clearing material to make farming easier. When walking back to the town, please stay on the Gampael and Rafasei Brook screes.   »

Water from the Bitschweil reservoir is fed to Zelfen by the penstock at the Gampadel plant. The aqua stairs run alongside the penstock which has a difference in altitude of 400 metres. Altogether there are 914 stairs. It is only permitted to go up because the danger of slipping is too great going down. Only you know if you are in good enough shape for the stairs. The record is:13 min 47 sec   »