Hörfeld-Moor
The Hörfeld Moor south of Mühlen, directly on the state border with Carinthia, is the most significant low moor area in Styria. It is an Austrian, Ramsar and European nature conservation area. The Styrian part of these wetlands is over 70 hectares, with moor vegetation, sedgeland, reeds, tall herbaceous vegetation of meadowsweet and wetland shrubbery. It is almost unimaginable that there was once a lake here after the retreat of the Mur Valley Glacier. It is now completely silted up.
Today the moor has a peat layer up to nine metres thick. The moor can be accessed by a timber plank walkway. It leads to a very species-rich lake in the moor and can be extended to a circuit. Information boards give you an insight into the secrets of the moor. The majority of the wetlands remain inaccessible due to the sodden land and the dangerously deep spring pools; it is therefore a true sanctuary for a myriad of rare and endangered animal and plant species. Over 130 species of bird have been documented; the evidence of whinchats and rosefinches breeding is interesting. Furthermore, there are almost 500 species of butterfly and 100 each of spiders and bugs. This is the only place in Styria that some of these species of insect and spider can be found.
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