Karst Hiking Trail - Circular route 24 around Lichtenstein

The Mammoth Stone at the start of the route is a monument for the study of Ice Age wildlife with a focus on finds in the gypsum karst: mammoth, woolly rhinoceros, cave bear, giant deer. The same applies to the adjacent quarry. Under a thin layer of Lower Buntsandstein, the surface of the underlying gypsum rock has dissolved into a multitude of sinkholes, dolines, or solution funnels, through which the path winds further.

Shortly before the castle, elongated convex strips lie on the slope to the left: as "Wölbäcker" they testify to former arable farming around the castle. Today, Lichtenstein Castle would rather be described as a small robber baron's nest. Ramparts, ditches, and a wall remnant are still preserved. In spring, the castle hill and its surroundings shine green with the fragrant wild garlic. Very large sinkholes with subsidence characterize the further descent into the Söse valley. Here at the foot of Lichtenstein, several karst springs emerge in wet seasons.

A special spring ascent fissure is formed by the Lichtenstein Cave. In geological past, it probably also supplied salty deep waters of the western Harz fault, a fault running here, where the Harz foreland has subsided by about 1,000 m. The cave is significant as a burial site of a Bronze Age large family of about 70 people, whose genetic lineage can be traced to still-living local inhabitants. The clockwise ascent goes around the deciduous forest-covered hill, again along large sinkholes, past the castle, and over a forest road back to the start.