Mědník Hill Mining Landscape and Dresden Elbe Valley
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
375 km
Riding-time estimate
7 h 01
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.
From Klášterec nad Ohří it runs 375 km to Klášterec nad Ohří; allow about 7 h 01 of riding. It goes by way of Rother Berg Mining Landscape, Grünthal Silver-Copper Liquation Works, Freiberg Mining Landscape and Dresden Elbe Valley. It crosses from Czechia into Germany - carry ID and check vignette or toll rules. It follows river valleys.
Scenic road chapters
Saxon Wine Route
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 50 km this is Saxon Wine Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
Length
50 km
Named road
Saxon Wine Route
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. 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
Mědník Hill 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 39 km into the recorded legs. Next is Grünthal Silver-Copper Liquation Works.
3. 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
about 97 km into the recorded legs you reach Grünthal Silver-Copper Liquation Works. Next is Freiberg Mining Landscape.
4. Freiberg Mining Landscape
Silver was found near Freiberg in 1168, and within a few decades the town had become one of the richest in Saxony. For eight centuries, miners dug ever deeper into the hills, and the wealth they brought up paid for churches, palaces and the splendours of Dresden. Freiberg's Bergakademie, founded in 1765, is the oldest mining university in the world still operating, and its mineral collection is one of the finest anywhere. The town and its mining landscape are part of the Erzgebirge mining region listed by UNESCO, shared between Germany and the Czech Republic.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Freiberg Mining Landscape, about halfway. Next is Dresden Elbe Valley.
5. Dresden Elbe Valley
Dresden's Elbe valley once held a World Heritage listing and then lost it. Inscribed in 2004 for its blend of Baroque city, river meadows, palaces and vineyards, it was removed from the list in 2009 after the city built the Waldschlösschen bridge across the meadows, a decision that sparked fierce debate. The landscape itself, however, remains beautiful: the river curves through wide green meadows, with the domes and spires of the old town on one side and the villas and vineyards of the Loschwitz slopes on the other.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 375 km.
Leg by leg
Mědník Hill Mining Landscape to Rother Berg Mining Landscape
Mědník Hill Mining Landscape → Rother Berg Mining Landscape is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Rother Berg Mining Landscape to Grünthal Silver-Copper Liquation Works
Rother Berg Mining Landscape → Grünthal Silver-Copper Liquation Works is 58 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Grünthal Silver-Copper Liquation Works to Freiberg Mining Landscape
Grünthal Silver-Copper Liquation Works → Freiberg Mining Landscape is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Freiberg Mining Landscape to Dresden Elbe Valley
Freiberg Mining Landscape → Dresden Elbe Valley is 50 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Dresden Elbe Valley to back through Freiberg Mining Landscape
Dresden Elbe Valley → back through Freiberg Mining Landscape is 58 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Freiberg Mining Landscape to back through Grünthal Silver-Copper Liquation Works
back through Freiberg Mining Landscape → back through Grünthal Silver-Copper Liquation Works is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Grünthal Silver-Copper Liquation Works to back through Rother Berg Mining Landscape
back through Grünthal Silver-Copper Liquation Works → back through Rother Berg Mining Landscape is 58 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Rother Berg Mining Landscape to Mědník Hill Mining Landscape
back through Rother Berg Mining Landscape → Mědník Hill Mining Landscape is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.