Jáchymov Mining Landscape and Grünthal Silver-Copper Liquation Works
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
246 km
Riding-time estimate
4 h 52
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.
246 km from Jáchymov to Jáchymov, about 4 h 52 of riding. It goes by way of Rother Berg Mining Landscape, Hoher Forst Mining Landscape, Grünthal Silver-Copper Liquation Works and back through Hoher Forst Mining Landscape. It crosses from Czechia into Germany - carry ID and check vignette or toll rules. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Jáchymov Mining Landscape
The word dollar comes from this small town in the Ore Mountains. In the early sixteenth century, the silver mines of Jáchymov, then called Joachimsthal, were among the richest in Europe, and the coins minted here were called Joachimsthaler, shortened to thaler, which became daler and eventually dollar. The town grew rapidly, with thousands of miners, and it is now one component of the World Heritage inscription for the Erzgebirge mining region, shared between the Czech Republic and Germany. Its later history is darker and stranger.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Jáchymov Mining Landscape is where the day begins. Next is Rother Berg Mining Landscape.
2. 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
Rother Berg Mining Landscape comes up about 29 km into the recorded legs. Next is Hoher Forst Mining Landscape.
3. 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
about 52 km into the recorded legs you reach Hoher Forst Mining Landscape. Next is Grünthal Silver-Copper Liquation Works.
4. Grünthal Silver-Copper Liquation Works
Down in the valley of the Flöha, on the edge of Olbernhau, stands an industrial village that looks almost too neat to be real: slate-roofed workshops, a hammer mill, workers' houses and a stout gatehouse, all enclosed within a wall. This is the Saigerhütte Grünthal, a works that separated silver from copper ore by a technique called liquation, and it is one of the best preserved sites of its kind in Europe. It forms part of the Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region, listed by UNESCO in 2019 for both the German and Czech sides of the range.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Jáchymov Mining Landscape closes the day.
Leg by leg
Jáchymov Mining Landscape to Rother Berg Mining Landscape
Jáchymov Mining Landscape → Rother Berg Mining Landscape is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Rother Berg Mining Landscape to Hoher Forst Mining Landscape
Rother Berg Mining Landscape → Hoher Forst Mining Landscape is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hoher Forst Mining Landscape to Grünthal Silver-Copper Liquation Works
Hoher Forst Mining Landscape → Grünthal Silver-Copper Liquation Works is 71 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Grünthal Silver-Copper Liquation Works to back through Hoher Forst Mining Landscape
Grünthal Silver-Copper Liquation Works → back through Hoher Forst Mining Landscape is 71 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Hoher Forst Mining Landscape to back through Rother Berg Mining Landscape
back through Hoher Forst Mining Landscape → back through Rother Berg Mining Landscape is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Rother Berg Mining Landscape to Jáchymov Mining Landscape
back through Rother Berg Mining Landscape → Jáchymov Mining Landscape is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.