Greifenstein area -

▶ The child-friendly hike starts at the hiking parking lot opposite the Greifenbachmill 01, formerly a guesthouse. We walk uphill along the asphalt path at the edge of the forest. At the houses, we keep left and soon follow the Röhrgraben. Such artificial ditches, which we often encounter on our hikes, served to supply water to the mines. The so-called impact water was needed to operate underground and aboveground water wheels, which, for example, powered pump and hammer works. We ignore all side paths until we reach a wide bridge at a driveway ("Röhrgraben – Sign 2"). We follow the driveway to the right (markings: yellow dot and yellow bar). We arrive at the forest edge and shortly afterward at a shelter 02. We cross a narrow road and follow the path marked with green and yellow dots along a row of trees and shrubs towards the Greifensteine. Behind a shelter at the forest edge, we turn sharply right. At another shelter, we cross the path Rodelbahn. A little further straight ahead, past a spring, we reach the Waldgeisterweg 03. The path lined with carved fairy tale and animal figures is a great attraction not only for little hikers. We ascend on the Waldgeisterweg. After a right turn, we approach another shelter. There we turn left and follow the path marked with red bars and green diagonal bars. After the ascent, past information boards and forest spirits, we branch off left at the memorial stone for the chief forester Rudolph and then about 100 m further right (green diagonal bar) to hike to the Stülpner Cave 04. From the Stülpner Cave, we hike on a root path to the right and reach the main path again at the Dragon Julius with the destination Greifensteine 05. In good weather, it is worth climbing up to the viewing platform, where the Greifenstein Castle is said to have once stood. We walk through the Greifensteine guesthouse (place to eat) and an outbuilding and follow the long-distance hiking trail Eisenach – Budapest (red bar) – first on asphalt, then as a root path through the forest. The route leads reliably to the Greifenbach Reservoir 06 (bathing possibility, snack bar). The continuation from the reservoir, which was created as storage for mining, begins directly opposite the overflow. We follow the marked path through the Greifenbach valley with the destination "Greifenstein Tunnel 2.0 km". Passing the council pond, from the waterworks we then use the Röhrgraben path (green diagonal bar, mining educational trail) to the Greifenstein Tunnel 07 (snack bar, not open year-round). Along the beautiful path, there are some interesting testimonies of historical mining. A few meters after the Greifenstein Tunnel, we leave the Röhrgraben path, follow the yellow marking steeply downhill, and walk to the left in the Greifenbach valley until we reach a shelter. We choose the middle path towards the water treading basin, which is available for the additional strengthening of the circulation and immune system. Then we continue downhill and meet the main path through the Greifenbach valley again opposite the ski jumps. Shortly before the hiking parking lot opposite the Greifenbachmill 01, we see the remains of the narrow-gauge railway bridge over the Greifenbach valley. The 180 m long Greifenbach viaduct, built in the years 1904 and 1905, was one of the longest of its kind in Germany. It belonged to the almost 30 km long railway line from Schönfeld-Wiesa via Geyer to Thum. Railway traffic was discontinued in 1967.