A visit to Ehrenfriedersdorf can be planned around a specific forest walk: the Forest Spirits Trail leads through the Greifenstein Forest. The wider Erzgebirgskreis travel destination offers additional hiking and cultural attractions. This takes you from a single trail to a broader regional perspective.
Forest Spirits Trail and Getting There
The Forest Spirits Trail is a family-friendly hike through the Greifenstein Forest. The route is 3.35 kilometres long and passes carved wooden figures; there is also access in the direction of the Greifensteine rock formations. It is considered suitable for pushchairs and wheelchairs. The figures are a distinctive feature along the trail and give the walk its own character.
A useful starting point is bus route 210 at Neumarkt Ehrenfriedersdorf; from there, allow about 1 kilometre on foot to reach the Greifensteine. Check the connection and timetable before setting out. This lets you factor in the bus and walking sections when planning, without treating the approximate distance as exact.
Open-Air Theatre in a Former Granite Quarry
The Greifensteine Nature Theatre is built into a former granite quarry and has 1,200 seats. Its programme includes adventure plays, fairy tales, opera, operetta and other open-air performances. Story-driven stage productions and musical theatre are thus presented side by side. The theatre offers a different focus from a walk through the forest: you can choose between a route on foot and a performance on an open-air stage.
Hiking in the Erzgebirgskreis
The wider Erzgebirgskreis travel destination has around 4,500 kilometres of signposted hiking trails. This offers a choice of different scales for planning a hike: the 3.35-kilometre Forest Spirits Trail and the Panorama Trail Schwarzenberg, a longer circular hike. The latter runs through the heights around Schwarzenberg for 13.8 kilometres and takes about 4 hours and 5 minutes. The distance and duration help put the different sizes of these hikes into perspective.
Another regional hiking option is the panorama trails around the mining towns of Schneeberg, Schwarzenberg and Zwönitz, which offer views of their historic town centres. Another scenic landmark in the Erzgebirgskreis is Mount Fichtelberg near Oberwiesenthal: at 1,215 metres, it is the highest mountain in Saxony.
Culture in the Erzgebirgskreis
Cultural attractions can also be explored as part of the wider Erzgebirgskreis travel destination. The Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since July 2019. Seiffen is considered the birthplace of Erzgebirge folk art. In Kurort Seiffen, the Ore Mountain Open-Air Museum showcases historic buildings and workshops from the 19th and early 20th centuries. At the heart of the museum is the original Preißler lathe, preserved in its original condition and powered by water. Together, these details give an impression of the region’s diverse cultural attractions: World Heritage, folk art and historic workshops.
Discover more destinations: Scheibenberg, Aue, Bockau, Schlettau, Bad Schlema, Zschopau, Johanngeorgenstadt, Neukirchen/Erzgebirge.
See the wider travel overview: Erzgebirgskreis.
