NATURA Tip 12 - Gypsum Karst Area Bad Sachsa - Route 2

To the Blumenbergsköpfe

We begin our hike through the nature reserve Priorteich/Sachsenstein, a sub-area of the FFH area Gypsum Karst Area near Bad Sachsa, at the parking lot of the Friedwald Bad Sachsa. This is located just past the exit of Bad Sachsa in the direction of Walkenried on the left side. We cross the street and follow the Harzklub hiking trail 32R and the additional marking red dot. Gypsum rock occurs on the left side of the path. On it grows a woodruff-beech forest with many old trees and plenty of deadwood. Sinkholes accompany the path. On the right hand, however, a very different picture presents itself to us. Here, the Buchtgraben, a small tributary of the Uffe, feeds four artificially dammed fish ponds. We follow the path to a crossroads. A path to the right leads to the Sachsenstein castle ruins. A detour there is worthwhile, as in addition to a Central European orchid-limestone beech forest, a gorge and slope mixed forest also grows on the steep slopes surrounding the castle. On the south to southwest exposed steep slopes directly at the castle ruins, plant communities of the FFH habitat types calcareous scree slopes as well as near-natural calcareous dry grasslands and their stages of bush encroachment can be found. Back on the main path, we follow the signage of the Harzklub, which leads us via a connecting path to the main hiking trail 34M with the additional marking green triangle towards Priorteich. Our path runs slightly uphill to the Blumenbergsköpfe. Besides beech trees, very old oaks grow here, relics of a former coppice forest. For centuries, cattle were driven into the forest here to fatten. Especially pigs feasted on the acorns. Goats browsed the shoots. Thus, no younger generation of trees could grow.

Continuing to Priorteich

A park-like and open oak forest developed, in which the old oaks were deliberately promoted and further young oaks were planted. The latter had to be individually protected from browsing by thorny brushwood brought in or small fences. The Lower Saxony State Forests preserve this old cultural landscape in a model way with the Mönchswald in the north of the nature reserve. We continue to follow the path towards Priorteich and reach its southern shore. The pond itself is classified due to its occurring aquatic plants and the habitat-typical structures among the natural and near-natural nutrient-rich still waters with stonewort or frogbit communities. It is a spawning waterbody of the rare crested newt. The path 34M (green triangle) leads us further to the Affenteich. It is an example of the FFH habitat type nutrient-poor to moderately nutrient-rich still waters with strandling and/or dwarf rush vegetation. Such plant communities, which are weak competitors and extremely rare, can develop on sunny shoreline areas that occasionally arise due to the summer lowering of the water level. Following the Harzklub path 12Q (red triangle) we first reach the Eck pond and then the Hirseteich. There we choose the path to the north shore of the Priorteich, where a forest outdoor swimming pool invites you to visit. Along the slowly silting west shore, a narrow strip of the habitat type transitional and floating mosses has developed. The path along the north shore of the Priorteich and its adjoining western meadows, which are intended to be developed into a species-rich moor grass meadow, leads us back to the crossroads on the Blumenbergsköpfe. From there, we follow the path 34M (green triangle) back to the starting point of our second hike.

Tourist Information Bad Sachsa
Am Kurpark 6
37441 Bad Sachsa
Tel: 05523 474990
info@bad-sachsa-urlaub.de
www.bad-sachsa.de