Germany > Lower Saxony > Natur Live Geopark in the Harz Mountains
Natur Live Geopark in the Harz Mountains
N 51°38.05', E 10°24.089'
2012-04-15
http://www.einhornhoehle.de/
Our rating: 6.00
Overall rating: - Rate this place - 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
The Natur Live Geopark is located in the Western part of the Harz Mountains. It is a complex of tourist forest trails in the mountains. There are three routes with the length of 11, 4 and 1 km. Through the Geopark also passes the route along the karst rocks of Harz with total length of 200 km.
Ecotrail in the Natur Live park in the Harz Mountains ©Yuriy Buriak
Ecotrail in the Natur Live park in the Harz Mountains ©Yuriy Buriak
©Yuriy Buriak
All three routes begin from the Unicorn Cave, which is the main attraction of the Geopark. The cave can be visited with a group tour every hour from 11 am to 4 pm, except Mondays. The ticket costs 7.5 euros.
©Yuriy Buriak
Unicorn Сave ©Yuriy Buriak
There was the border between East and West Germany in this area after the World War II, so it wasn't visited by tourists. In 1990 it was one of the few places in Europe with wildlife. In 1663 a skeleton of a unicorn was found in the Harz Mountains. A century later a similar skeleton was found in a cave near Scharzfeld. The skeleton was examined by Leibniz, a famous scientist and founder of the Berlin Academy of Sciences. He admitted that unicorns exist (or existed). The cave consists of several rooms, you will go from the smallest one to the largest one. The most interesting and most beautiful room is in the end. In the middle of the forest there's a natural hole formed in the rock that leads to the cave. But tourists enter the cave via an artificial tunnel in the rock on the other side. The entrance in the forest looks pretty dangerous, so it's fenced and is under video surveillance.
Entrance to the Unicorn Сave on the other side is closed. ©Yuriy Buriak
A hundred thousand years ago the Neanderthals found the cave and lived in it. Later the cave was home to bears, the bones of which were found during excavations. It is not allowed to take pictures inside the cave (nonsense), so here's a couple of pics from the Internet.
Unicorn Сave ©
Unicorn Сave ©
There is a small ecotrail near the cave. On the other side of the field it passes near a rock that you can climb, but it's not easy. A nice panorama opens from the top.
Field in front of the Unicorn Cave ©Yuriy Buriak
©Yuriy Buriak
©Yuriy Buriak
©Yuriy Buriak
©Yuriy Buriak
Unknown object ©Yuriy Buriak
You will find other interesting places on the tourist trail, such as ruins of the Scharzfeld Fortress. The fortress was not preserved and now looks more like a rock, but local researchers found the original form, which you can see on the pictures below.
Ruins of the Sharzfeld Fortress ©Yuriy Buriak
Ruins of the Sharzfeld Fortress ©Yuriy Buriak
Ruins of the Sharzfeld Fortress ©Yuriy Buriak
These two passes are under reconstruction. ©Yuriy Buriak
Reconstruction of the Sharzfeld Fortress ©Yuriy Buriak
Ruins of the Sharzfeld Fortress ©Yuriy Buriak
Getting there: Go by train to the station "Bad Lauterberg im Harz Barbis". The fortress is visible from the station. Go along the road which leads to the mountain. There is a hotel under the mountain and the trail starts behind it. Climbing up you will get to the ruins. Then follow the signs. If you are traveling by car, go to Scharzfeld. There's a road that leads from the downtown right to the cave.
Tags, Germany: cave , forest , mountains , stroll Tags, all countries: cave , forest , mountains , stroll
- Rate this place -
Location : ------------ 1 - Far beyond the settlements, you must spend minimum a day 2 - Near the small town, you need to walk long distance 3 - Can be reached only by car 4 - A small town with a poor public transport 5 - Outside the settlements, but with excellent transport links 6 - A small town with excellent transport links 7 - Medium-size city 8 - Suburb of the capital or major city, the ability to reach by public transport 9 - Big city 10 - Capital
Impressions : ------------ 1 - No point in visiting 2 - Boring, wasted time 3 - You can visit, if you have a lot of free time and nothing better to do 4 - A lot of things, but not so interesting 5 - It seems to be interesting, but hard way to spoil the impression 6 - There is something interesting, but the rest is not worth the attention 7 - Probably interesting, but for everybody 8 - Very cool, but difficult to see everything and long-distance trails 9 - Very cool, but there are similar facilities in other locations 10 - Very cool, this is not anywhere else
Number of tourists (weekend afternoon) : ------------ 1 - Crowds, impossible to see everything normally 2 - A lot of tourists, a long wait 3 - A lot of tourists, the organization is lame 4 - A lot of tourists, but good organization 5 - There are many tourists, but they are concentrated in one place and you can walk freely 6 - Many tourists everywhere, but the large space is compensated 7 - The average number of tourists. To photograph, you must wait 8 - Tourists are, but they do not interfere 9 - There are few tourists 10 - You are alone
State : ------------ 1 - Only title left 2 - Dull ruins 3 - On restoration 4 - The picturesque ruins 5 - Have not been restored, the state is poor 6 - Partially destroyed, but the rest of the normal state 7 - Have not been restored, good condition 8 - OK, but it is possible to make better 9 - Looks good from the outside, partial repair inside or without repair 10 - In excellent condition, well-groomed area
Picturesque (for the photographer) : ------------ 1 - - 2 - - 3 - Horrible background, normal pictures only from the top 4 - wires and cars do not allow make normal photo 5 - Interfere with foreign objects 6 - In the city, but more or less normal photo can be made 7 - Beautiful, but you can take pictures with just one point 8 - Very nice, but you can only shoot at a certain time 9 - Very nice, but hard to get to the good weather or permanently interfere with tourists 10 - Very nice, but occasionally interferes with the weather or tourists
* - Note: Description of the evaluation is not always appropriate for a particular object, it's just a little help
Our rating - 6.00
Location : ------------ 1 - Far beyond the settlements, you must spend minimum a day 2 - Near the small town, you need to walk long distance 3 - Can be reached only by car 4 - A small town with a poor public transport 5 - Outside the settlements, but with excellent transport links 6 - A small town with excellent transport links 7 - Medium-size city 8 - Suburb of the capital or major city, the ability to reach by public transport 9 - Big city 10 - Capital
Impressions : ------------ 1 - No point in visiting 2 - Boring, wasted time 3 - You can visit, if you have a lot of free time and nothing better to do 4 - A lot of things, but not so interesting 5 - It seems to be interesting, but hard way to spoil the impression 6 - There is something interesting, but the rest is not worth the attention 7 - Probably interesting, but for everybody 8 - Very cool, but difficult to see everything and long-distance trails 9 - Very cool, but there are similar facilities in other locations 10 - Very cool, this is not anywhere else
Number of tourists (weekend afternoon) : ------------ 1 - Crowds, impossible to see everything normally 2 - A lot of tourists, a long wait 3 - A lot of tourists, the organization is lame 4 - A lot of tourists, but good organization 5 - There are many tourists, but they are concentrated in one place and you can walk freely 6 - Many tourists everywhere, but the large space is compensated 7 - The average number of tourists. To photograph, you must wait 8 - Tourists are, but they do not interfere 9 - There are few tourists 10 - You are alone
State : ------------ 1 - Only title left 2 - Dull ruins 3 - On restoration 4 - The picturesque ruins 5 - Have not been restored, the state is poor 6 - Partially destroyed, but the rest of the normal state 7 - Have not been restored, good condition 8 - OK, but it is possible to make better 9 - Looks good from the outside, partial repair inside or without repair 10 - In excellent condition, well-groomed area
Picturesque (for the photographer) : ------------ 1 - - 2 - - 3 - Horrible background, normal pictures only from the top 4 - wires and cars do not allow make normal photo 5 - Interfere with foreign objects 6 - In the city, but more or less normal photo can be made 7 - Beautiful, but you can take pictures with just one point 8 - Very nice, but you can only shoot at a certain time 9 - Very nice, but hard to get to the good weather or permanently interfere with tourists 10 - Very nice, but occasionally interferes with the weather or tourists
* - Note: Description of the evaluation is not always appropriate for a particular object, it's just a little help
Visitor's rating - 0.00
Location : ------------ 1 - Far beyond the settlements, you must spend minimum a day 2 - Near the small town, you need to walk long distance 3 - Can be reached only by car 4 - A small town with a poor public transport 5 - Outside the settlements, but with excellent transport links 6 - A small town with excellent transport links 7 - Medium-size city 8 - Suburb of the capital or major city, the ability to reach by public transport 9 - Big city 10 - Capital
Impressions : ------------ 1 - No point in visiting 2 - Boring, wasted time 3 - You can visit, if you have a lot of free time and nothing better to do 4 - A lot of things, but not so interesting 5 - It seems to be interesting, but hard way to spoil the impression 6 - There is something interesting, but the rest is not worth the attention 7 - Probably interesting, but for everybody 8 - Very cool, but difficult to see everything and long-distance trails 9 - Very cool, but there are similar facilities in other locations 10 - Very cool, this is not anywhere else
Number of tourists (weekend afternoon) : ------------ 1 - Crowds, impossible to see everything normally 2 - A lot of tourists, a long wait 3 - A lot of tourists, the organization is lame 4 - A lot of tourists, but good organization 5 - There are many tourists, but they are concentrated in one place and you can walk freely 6 - Many tourists everywhere, but the large space is compensated 7 - The average number of tourists. To photograph, you must wait 8 - Tourists are, but they do not interfere 9 - There are few tourists 10 - You are alone
State : ------------ 1 - Only title left 2 - Dull ruins 3 - On restoration 4 - The picturesque ruins 5 - Have not been restored, the state is poor 6 - Partially destroyed, but the rest of the normal state 7 - Have not been restored, good condition 8 - OK, but it is possible to make better 9 - Looks good from the outside, partial repair inside or without repair 10 - In excellent condition, well-groomed area
Picturesque (for the photographer) : ------------ 1 - - 2 - - 3 - Horrible background, normal pictures only from the top 4 - wires and cars do not allow make normal photo 5 - Interfere with foreign objects 6 - In the city, but more or less normal photo can be made 7 - Beautiful, but you can take pictures with just one point 8 - Very nice, but you can only shoot at a certain time 9 - Very nice, but hard to get to the good weather or permanently interfere with tourists 10 - Very nice, but occasionally interferes with the weather or tourists
* - Note: Description of the evaluation is not always appropriate for a particular object, it's just a little help