Granite crags
Above the river.
Dan Kollmann — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Alice Wiegand — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Falk2 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Dan Kollmann — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Christina S. — CC BY-SA 4.0
The Bode Gorge is a 10 km ravine in the Harz Mountains of central Germany, between Treseburg and Thale, starting about 3 km from the centre of Thale in a straight line. Here the River Bode, which rises on the Brocken, the highest mountain in the Harz, has cut deeply into hard granite. The gorge is about 140 metres deep at Treseburg and some 280 metres deep at Thale, where it breaks out into the Harz foreland. It was made a nature reserve in 1937 and later enlarged, and at about 474 hectares it is one of the largest reserves in Saxony-Anhalt, drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors a year. Steep, forested walls fall to the river, with pale granite crags jutting above it. From the Rosstrappe and Hexentanzplatz lookouts, high above the gorge, there are wide views over the ravine and the plains beyond Thale. The whole gorge can only be explored on foot, along a 10 km trail between Thale and Treseburg that climbs in tight bends and runs over rocks at the narrowest points. A cable car rises from Thale to the Hexentanzplatz and a chairlift to the Rosstrappe. Climbing off the paths is banned to protect the nature.
Above the river.
Lookout and cable car.
10 km.
Thale, Harz, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany
By cable car or chairlift from Thale.
No, the trail is for walkers only.