Hohnstein - Brand - Rathen - Bastei

The starting point of this route is Hohnstein. Passing the cemetery, the path goes to the outdoor pool, which is left behind on the left. Immediately behind, the path becomes narrow and passes under the Hohnstein viaduct of the Schwarzbach railway. The path leads over a meadow where the viewpoint Napoleonschanze is located. The path continues to the forest edge, past a high stand up to a wide forest path. Slightly keeping right, passing a small, inconspicuous quarry up to the Brandstraße. We follow this to Brandbaude. After a few meters, the Forstgraben branches off to the left into the Tiefer Grund. At the junction stands the monument "The Hand".
Upon reaching Brandbaude, the hiker can expect food and drink and the beautiful view of Brand. The path continues through Schulzengrund into the Polenztal over the Polenz to Waltersdorfer mill. Then it continues over the Polenztal trail to the Füllhölzelweg parking lot. Follow this to the spa town of Rathen and climb the Bastei path. Ahead lie just under 200 meters of altitude difference to the summit. On the ascent, we enjoy the wonderful view of the Elbe flowing in the valley and the landscape of Saxon Switzerland. We pass Rathen rock castle, which was already known around 1500 as a defensive structure. A circular walk is possible there, where we experience views in the other direction of the sandstone mountain world. Now we cross the 76 m long Bastei bridge and enjoy the views in all directions once more. There is a fantastic view of Rathen, the Elbe bend, Königstein, Lilienstein, Rauenstein and the other rocks and mountains of Saxon Switzerland.