Lauenstein Castle – Villa Falkenstein loop from Gräfenthal

Hiking trails & Routes

Landkreis Saalfeld-Rudolstadt

Gräfenthal

Lauenstein Castle – Villa Falkenstein loop from Gräfenthal

Hard

4.9

(8)

hikers

Lauenstein Castle – Villa Falkenstein loop from Gräfenthal

06:28

21.3km

620m

Hiking

Hard hike. Very good fitness required. Mostly accessible paths. Sure-footedness required. The starting point of the route is accessible with public transport.

Last updated: August 26, 2026

Tips

Your route passes through protected areas

Please check local regulations for:

Naturpark Thüringer Wald

Naturpark Frankenwald

Naturpark Thüringer Schiefergebirge/Obere Saale

Waypoints

Start point

Bus stop

Get Directions

3.87 km

Cook's Grave

Highlight • Historical Site

One of the 13 stations on the 5.7-kilometer-long Fairytale Trail features the cook's grave as its theme—albeit not particularly child-friendly. The alleged gravestones are presumably fragments of former boundary stones …

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4.59 km

Thuringian Warte Observation Tower

Highlight • Viewpoint

The 26.5-meter-high observation tower on the Ratzenberg (678 meters) is only about 200 meters from the state border between Bavaria and Thuringia. The inner-German border strip, now protected as the …

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4.74 km

View of the valley in Naturpark Frankenwald

Highlight • Viewpoint

If you come from the tower, you will pass by here quickly, otherwise a very nice foretaste

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5.20 km

Rest area with a view of Lauenstein Castle

Highlight • Viewpoint

A newly renovated rest area with sky loungers. The view extends to the medieval Lauenstein Castle, built almost 900 years ago. Part of the Fairytale Trail is located here.

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7.04 km

Lauenstein Castle

Highlight • Castle

This hilltop castle, originally part of the Orlagau region, was built over a thousand years ago in the midst of a clearing on the upper reaches of the Saale River …

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10.7 km

Villa Falkenstein

Highlight • Structure

The villa, originally built as a restaurant for the Karl Schreider Export Brewery in Falkenstein (founded in 1709 and closed in 1968), which was once located here but has since …

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13.0 km

Haus des Volkes Bauhaus Ensemble

Highlight • Monument

The Thuringian industrial pioneer Franz Itting, who had already built a power plant in Probstzella in 1909, commissioned the "Haus des Volkes" (People's House) in 1925. The socially minded entrepreneur …

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19.5 km

View of the valley from Spitzberghütte

Highlight • Viewpoint

beautiful view

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21.3 km

End point

Bus stop

Way Types & Surfaces

Way Types

11.7 km

3.08 km

2.11 km

2.02 km

1.55 km

617 m

297 m

Surfaces

5.70 km

5.25 km

4.22 km

3.11 km

2.34 km

723 m

Elevation

Nothing selected – click and drag below to see the stats for a specific part of the route.

Highest point (670 m)

Lowest point (330 m)

Weather

Saturday 10 October

11°C

6°C

27 %

Additional weather tips

Max wind speed: 14.0 km/h

to get more detailed weather forecasts along your route

Comments

April 22, 2023,Thüringer Warte – Burg Lauenstein Runde von Gräfenthal

The tour was fun, but also exhausting. Winter is still in the bones.
First the ascent to the Thüringer Warte. The Wessis used to look east, down to Probstzella. Up there you still have a 360 degree panoramic view without being disturbed by any tree. Splendid.
We drive to Lauenstein again to have a look at the castle in peace …

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December 14, 2025,Schiefergebirgsrunde von Probstzella

Another very nice hike, this time in the Thuringian Slate Mountains. I only skipped the Thuringian Warthe. The clouds were hanging a bit too low for good visibility.

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