The main valley is about 70 km long and begins north of the Zeller See. It forms the broad vale of the Saalfelden Basin, the heart of the Saalachpinzgau region. Initially it separates the Kitzbühel Alps in the west, from where the Saalach originates, from the Salzburg Slate Alps in the east; later, it divides the Loferer Steinberge and the Chiemgau Alps in the west from the Berchtesgaden Alps in the east. Near Reichenhall and Großgmain the valley broadens again and ends between Freilassing and Salzburg, the Saalach flowing for its last few kilometres through the plain of the Salzburg-Freilassing Basin.