Around Herzberg

This route connects the separately signposted northern and southern branches of the Karst Hiking Trail. Start the circular hike in the morning; this way you can end with a visit including coffee, cake, or more at the castle. The route is attractive in both directions. Here it is described clockwise.

From the castle, it goes above the steep slope over the Sieber, one of the few free-flowing Harz rivers, through light deciduous forest. Earth collapses and landslides repeatedly occur on the slope because the river water disappears into the gypsum karst beneath us. The Nüllberg consists of dolomite rock; at its foot, a side path leads to a floodwater sinkhole. The Sieber Valley is filled with gravel deposits from the last ice age, which are extracted here near Hörden. Above the Sieber bridge, there is another sinkhole; the riverbed is dry here for several months of the year.

From Hörden, the hiking trail runs along the district road below the home mountain with a former castle site. Here river water sinks under the road, which shows subsidence. Behind the ramp to the B 243, it goes into the Lüderholz. A species-rich deciduous forest on gravel deposits of the Große Steinau awaits the hiker. Its water also disappears underground, dissolves the gypsum, leaving behind large and small, partly water-filled earth collapses, the "Eyes of the South Harz".

Between Mühlenberg and the Herzberg Clinic, the path leads along the forest edge with beautiful views of Herzberg, the Sieber Valley, and the South Harz through an area of former copper shale mining; pit fields (side path!) testify to this poor people's mining.

The clinic also offers a café (plus emergency room for foot injuries). Over the car park, the path leads down into the Lonau Valley and to the Lonau Waterfall, the only real waterfall of the Western Harz. From here, the last section leads through the town area, but romantically along the mill ditch with numerous explanatory boards on the history of hydropower usage, over the market square and to the Juessee, the largest earth collapse lake in the entire South Harz with its summer outdoor pool. The further way leads through the beautifully paved pedestrian zone (ice cream parlor, cafés, water wheel) back up to the Welfen Castle, where the round trip ends. Here, refreshments and a visit to the castle museum await the hiker; in the evening, cultural events (lectures, concerts, readings, etc.) are held in the knights' hall.

At Herzberg Castle

Bus stop "Herzberg am Harz Castle"