Handbike tour "To the Niedere Schleuse in the Kirnitzschtal"
- 4:40 h
- 16.48 km
- 239 m
- 239 m
- 211 m
- 429 m
- 218 m
- Start: Kirnitzschtal parking lot
- Destination: Kirnitzschtal parking lot
This tour through Lower Saxon Switzerland leads through the extensive forests above the Kirnitzschtal valley and then follows the crystal-clear river back to the Kirnitzschtal road. In earlier times, the watercourse was used to raft the timber felled here to Bad Schandau on the Elbe. Nowadays, only the reconstructed dam of the Niedere Schleuse, which you pass in the last third of the tour, bears witness to this. (The so-called Upper Lock, which was built for the same purpose, still dams up the water of the Kirnitzsch to enable the Hinterhermsdorf barge trip). It should be noted that the route from the large parking lot at the Buchenparkhalle in Hinterhermsdorf runs on unpaved forest roads and wide farm tracks (nowadays called "gravel"), which is why more robust handbike tires are recommended.
Good to know
Pavements
Best to visit
Directions
At the large crossroads next to the parking lot, keep left and ride along a gravel road for approx. 400 m to the end of the gardens and the next fork. Turn left there again. The improving road conditions and the initially flat, later sloping section of the route allow you to recover. After around 1.8 km, we reach Wettinplatz, where there is a small refuge.
Caution: From there, the route takes a sharp right downhill into a valley on the track now called Höllweg and designated as "Cycle Route in National Park 3030", not the other paths that initially seem inviting! Staying on the main cycle path, the route now rolls beautifully down into the Kirnitzschtal valley in a series of twists and turns. At the end of this long descent, we are greeted by large meadows and the little river Kirnitzsch, which now shows us the way back in the direction of flow.
After passing several junctions, 2.5 km further on we reach the Niedere Schleuse, a reconstructed structure that was once used to float logs down the Kirnitzsch. The road in the valley is mostly of medium to good quality and leads us directly back to the starting point of our tour.
Tour information
Loop Road
Directions & Parking facilities
From Pirna via the B172 in the direction of Bad Schandau. From there, continue into the Kirnitzschtal valley, following the signs to Hinterhermsdorf.
Parking lot "Zum Thorwald" in the Kirnitzschtal valley
Arrival/ Departure:
By car or bus line 241 to the stop "Kirnitzschtal, Zum Thorwald"
Additional information
Author´s Tip / Recommendation of the author
After the long descent into the Kirnitzschtal at the crossroads, romantics with off-road or robust bikes should also take a short detour to the left to the tourist border crossing, where the hamlet of Hinterdittersbach (Zadní Jetřichovice) was once located on the Czech side. The approx. 400 m long access road runs along a hiking trail and provides access to the network of cycle paths through Bohemian Switzerland.
Safety guidelines
Take care when braking on unpaved surfaces during the descent - risk of slipping!
Nearby
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