Boat trip on the dammed Kirnitzsch stream / Photo: Frank Richter
- Hiking recommendation: Hinterhermsdorf – Buchenparkhalle – Upper watergate – Herrmannseck – Wettinplatz – Königsplatz – Hinterhermsdorf
Particularly impressive is a boat trip in the wild and largely untouched Kirnitzsch canyon. The stream of 700 m was formerly used for timber rafting. Today boats go quietly through the narrow, silent rock scenery up to the dam wall – the upper watergate. A path leads through the Hermannseck back to Hinterhermsdorf. Visit also our National Park information point Beize with the forest outdoor area Waldhusche!
Getting there:
Finding public transport connections: German railway - To Hinterhermsdorf with Bus 241 and walk to upper watergate, from town center via Buchenparkhalle to upper watergate.
- By car to Buchenparkhalle parking lot, then continue on foot to the upper watergate.
Opening hours for boat trips: from Easter – October 31st, 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Historical Notes: The upper watergate, once wooden, then a stone dam from 1816/17, had been built in 1567 by orders of Elector Augustus of Saxony (r. 1553-1586) for collecting and rafting cut down timber. The flood resulting from opening the dam enabled the logs to float all the way to the Elbe river. On the rafters’ track the rafters accompanied the logs. The 20-minute boat ride that has been offered since 1879, every year from April to October, on the 700 m-long dammed stream of the upper watergate, leads you through a picturesque rocky gorge. A dark spruce forest grows in the shady, cool, moist canyon, whereas a lighter heath and pine forest is found on top of the drier and sunnier heights.
