The Stoneman Trail in the Ore Mountains

Right at the beginning of this tour, you have the choice: Rather relaxed or action-packed? If you prefer a relaxed warmup program, you can just follow the track of this tour. Alternatively, the start of the day with a nice departure offers. For the Fichtelberg suspension railway brings you up high first. It is the oldest cable car in Germany and best of all: It takes bikes with you. Various departures start at the top, which bring you back to the valley.But now continue. Forest trails and single trails lead you through the Ore Mountains and you can always enjoy beautiful views of the surrounding area. Especially beautiful is the view from Bärenstein, the destination mountain of this tour, from whose lookout tower you can see the surrounding peaks and all the way to the Czech Republic.Last but not least, at the end of the stage another special feature of this area awaits you - the great hospitality of the people in the Ore Mountains, who have especially prepared for the hosting of mountain bikers. Put your bike down in the safe bike cellar, refill your energy supplies with a healthy biker dinner and enjoy the tranquility of the border town of Bärenstein.

Do you know where the Erzgebirge got its name from? If you are vigilant today, you can find out. Because today you drive directly through the former center of German silver mining. In the 16th century Annaberg was due to its rich ore deposits second largest city of Saxony - today hardly imaginable. If you have not heard of Annaberg yet, you certainly know one of the former inhabitants. We would just assume that - after Adam Riese -. Exactly: The German Rechenmeister Adam Ries once lived here.Enough of the stories. Because you can go biking around Annaberg. It starts on the Bärenstein and ends similarly high on the Pöhlberg, which awaits you with an observation tower and mountain hotel. So if you like, you can set up your camp here and, with a bit of luck in the weather before going to bed, enjoy the fantastic panorama with the starry sky.

This tour starts and ends with real highlights. You start from the top of a mountain from the quiet mountain inn with a great view, past the picturesque basalt columns of the Pöhlberg. At the Scheibenberg these pillars are called "organ pipes", are no less impressive and meet you just before you reach the lookout point on the top of the mountain, where you set up your camp at the Berggasthof Scheibenberg.On the way you roll through lush meadows, stroll through picturesque towns and villages, pedal past babbling brooks and refresh yourself at a specially arranged for bikers waterhole, which once again proves that you are welcome here - mountain bike idyll in its most beautiful form.

Today, one highlight is hunting the next. It begins with a technically pleasurable break at the lower basin of the pumped storage plant Markersbach. Here you can learn how to gain energy from water or just enjoy a little break in a great environment. When hunger comes, the Ephraimhaus in Pöhla is already waiting for you with local specialties. Country idyll meets culinary highlights.It gets even better. Less epicurean, but the more impressive is the pit stop in knight green. Here is the principle of trust. You take a drink or a bar from the refrigerator and decide for yourself how much that is worth, and then donate a corresponding amount. If you are looking for the good in humanity, here you are on the track. Do not disappoint your hosts.Next you discover a piece of history. Rather, you cross it. Before Schengen, the small pedestrian crossing at half mile was one of the few ways to get to the Czech Republic. Today it is easier - the small bridge, a few open barriers, signs and information boards are reminiscent of earlier times.The daily highlight comes to the very end, as it should be. The Trail Center Rabenberg is truly unique - over 50 kilometers of trails invite you to unrestricted mountain bike enjoyment. For this everything is set to bikers. There are rental bikes, workshop service, a bike school and of course biker-friendly accommodations. It's best to stay one more day and try out all the trails in the area.

This tour is in the sign of the Trail Center Rabenberg, because there it starts and the first few kilometers you go back on trails of the bike park. This means that you can start straight away with a lot of first-class trail action. And if you feel like driving a bit longer, you can just hang a few trails on it. All routes here are perfectly marked, so you will not get lost. Get rid of you and if you have enough, go on.In the further course you will earn yourself a few meters in altitude, because the destination of the route is located on the 1018 meter high Auersberg. At the top there is a mountain hotel so that you can set up your camp at an altitude of over 1,000 meters. If you prefer to spend the night in the Eibenstock, which is about ten kilometers away, we can recommend you the Eibenstock bath gardens, which are considered to be one of the most beautiful sauna facilities in Europe.

High up on the Auersberg starts this mountain bike tour in the midst of the varied and impressive nature of the German / Czech border area. In the nature reserve Kleiner Kranichsee you will be impressed for the first time - such a high moor has a very special atmosphere and this is one of the most important of the whole result. Shortly after you reach Johanngeorgenstadt, where you pass the border to the Czech Republic and cycle through Potůčky (to Breitenbach in German).Before that, you have the opportunity to make a stop at the Glöckl mine, which is pretty cool. Because here you do not only look, here you slip yourself into the role of the miner and experience up close, what it meant to reduce the coveted ores.Slowly but surely the long ascent to the Plattenberg begins along the Schwarzwasser. However, the valley through which you drive is so beautiful that you almost forget that it has not been downhill for a while. Once at the top, you should definitely visit the "Wolfs or Eispinge", also a relic of mining, today a very impressive natural monument.An increase is still in front of you. The driveway to the 1,028-meter-high Plešivec (Plessberg) is only moderately, but is getting steeper towards the end. Once at the top, a lookout tower and especially a beautifully located mountain hotel, which is completely geared towards bikers, are waiting for you.

A lot of Czech meters are waiting for you on this sporty tour. Three times today you are at over 1,000 meters altitude. Let's start right from the start on the Plessberg with a nice single trail. Welcome to the last leg of the Stoneman Round!At Marianska you can expect a high meadow with the best view of the sparsely populated Cheschi part of the Erzgebirge. On the following descent you can regain strength for the Uphill to Keilberg, Czech Klínovec, the highest elevation of the Erzgebirge with 1,243.7 meters altitude. If you have the time and inclination, it is definitely worth it to stay here and to discover in peace the flowy bike trails of the trail park Klínovec.Once at the top you have, as so often on the Stoneman round, an awesome view and the opportunity to strengthen you with a snack before continuing on to the famous Czech winter sports resort of Boží Dar. One last short climb and you reach the Fichtelberg. Thus you crack on this tour also the highest German mountain of the Erzgebirge at 1,214.79 meters altitude. The descent through the old bobsleigh track down to the village, which you may have already ridden on the first leg of this collection, you have earned absolutely.