Malerweg stage 4: Schrammsteine, Kuhstall and Lichtenhainer Wasserfall

What it is

The Malerweg, the Painters' Way, is the great trail of Saxon Switzerland: 116 kilometres in eight stages that follow the landscapes the Romantics painted. The fourth stage, from Altendorf to the Neumannmühle, is the most spectacular for a single day. It goes down through the Dorfbachklamm gorge to the Kirnitzsch valley, passes the Ostrauer Mühle and climbs to the Schrammsteine, a ridge of sandstone towers walked along the Schrammsteingratweg, with a detour to the Schrammsteinaussicht, the best-known viewpoint on the ridge. It continues through the national park forest to the Kuhstall rock arch and its Himmelsleiter, descends to the Lichtenhainer Wasserfall and ends at the Neumannmühle, an old mill that is now a museum.

What you need to know

It is 18.3 kilometres, 553 metres of ascent and 662 of descent, and about seven and a quarter hours of walking, not counting stops or detours. The tourist office rates it as demanding: it takes good fitness and a sure foot. The climb up the Jägersteig has iron ladders, and in other stretches the path goes over steps and ladders. With a dog, or if you prefer to avoid the more exposed parts, there are marked variants: you can bypass the Dorfbachklamm towards the Ostrauer Mühle, avoid the Jägersteig by the Elbleitenweg and Zeughausweg paths, and bypass the Kuhstall ladder by the back path, marked in red. In the national park you may only walk on marked routes.

Getting there and back

To the start you arrive on the U28 line, the national park train, to Goßdorf-Kohlmühle, or by bus 260 to Altendorf. From Bad Schandau, a 5-kilometre link of an hour and a half via Ostrau. To shorten it, take the Kirnitzschtalbahn in Bad Schandau to the Ostrauer Mühle (11 minutes) and climb from there to the Schrammsteine; you can finish at the Lichtenhainer Wasserfall and return on the same tram. From the Neumannmühle, bus 241 takes you back.

Where to stop

The Bergwirtschaft Kuhstall, next to the arch, is the place to stop for lunch: soups, a cold-cut board and cold drinks. It is open daily in season and only on weekends and public holidays in winter. Bring water and some food just in case.