Hoher Forst Mining Landscape and Mědník Hill Mining Landscape
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
180 km
Riding-time estimate
3 h 33
Journey
Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
180 km from Kirchberg to Kirchberg, about 3 h 33 of riding. On the way it passes Eibenstock Mining Landscape, Rother Berg Mining Landscape, Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region and Mědník Hill Mining Landscape. It crosses from Germany into Czechia - carry ID and check vignette or toll rules.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Hoher Forst Mining Landscape
The Erzgebirge, the Ore Mountains, got their name for a good reason. In 1168, according to tradition, silver was found near Freiberg, and a rush followed that turned a forested ridge on the border between Saxony and Bohemia into one of the richest mining districts in Europe. For eight centuries, miners dug silver, tin, cobalt and iron from the hills, and later uranium, and the landscape is full of the traces: spoil heaps, pits, water channels, stamp mills and miners' towns. UNESCO listed the Ore Mountain mining region in 2019, in a property that spans Germany and the Czech Republic.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hoher Forst Mining Landscape is where the day begins. Next is Eibenstock Mining Landscape.
2. Eibenstock Mining Landscape
Eibenstock sits high in the western Erzgebirge, at about six hundred metres above the sea, in a country of spruce forests and cold, clear streams. It owes its origins to tin: miners worked the tin deposits here from the Middle Ages, and the mining landscape around the town, with old spoil heaps, shafts and water channels, is part of the Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region, which UNESCO recognised in 2019. Today, the traces are quiet, softened by moss and birch.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Eibenstock Mining Landscape comes up about 21 km into the recorded legs. Next is Rother Berg Mining Landscape.
3. Rother Berg Mining Landscape
Schwarzenberg, in the western Erzgebirge, is a town of steep streets, slate roofs and a castle and church perched on a rock above the Schwarzwasser river, and the hills around it are riddled with old mine workings. The Rother Berg, the red mountain, takes its name from the iron ore that colours its soil, and it is one of the components of the Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region, the cross-border UNESCO site listed in 2019. For eight centuries, miners in these mountains dug for silver, tin, iron, cobalt and later uranium, and their work shaped not only the landscape but the culture of the whole region.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 41 km into the recorded legs you reach Rother Berg Mining Landscape. Next is Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region.
4. Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region
The word dollar comes from these hills. In the early sixteenth century, a silver rush at Joachimsthal, today's Jáchymov, made the town one of the largest in Bohemia, and the coins minted there, the Joachimsthaler, shortened to thaler, gave their name to currencies around the world. The Erzgebirge, or Krušné hory, the Ore Mountains on the Czech-German border, were mined for silver, tin, cobalt, iron and finally uranium for eight centuries, and the Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region was inscribed on the UNESCO list in 2019.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region, about halfway. Next is Mědník Hill Mining Landscape.
5. Mědník Hill Mining Landscape
Mědník is a small, steep hill on the Czech side of the Ore Mountains, or Krušné hory, the range that forms the border between Bohemia and Saxony. It rises above the village of Měděnec, whose name, like the hill's, comes from the Czech word for copper. For centuries, miners tunnelled into the hill for copper and iron ore, and the hill is now part of the Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region, inscribed by UNESCO in 2019 as a cross-border site.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 180 km.
Leg by leg
Hoher Forst Mining Landscape to Eibenstock Mining Landscape
Hoher Forst Mining Landscape → Eibenstock Mining Landscape is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Eibenstock Mining Landscape to Rother Berg Mining Landscape
Eibenstock Mining Landscape → Rother Berg Mining Landscape is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Rother Berg Mining Landscape to Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region
Rother Berg Mining Landscape → Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region to Mědník Hill Mining Landscape
Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region → Mědník Hill Mining Landscape is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Mědník Hill Mining Landscape to back through Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region
Mědník Hill Mining Landscape → back through Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region to back through Rother Berg Mining Landscape
back through Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region → back through Rother Berg Mining Landscape is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Rother Berg Mining Landscape to back through Eibenstock Mining Landscape
back through Rother Berg Mining Landscape → back through Eibenstock Mining Landscape is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Eibenstock Mining Landscape to Hoher Forst Mining Landscape
back through Eibenstock Mining Landscape → Hoher Forst Mining Landscape is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.