The Amselgrund ("Amsel Bottom") is the name given to the
valley
A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...
of the Grünbach stream in the heart of
Saxon Switzerland
Saxon Switzerland (, ) is a hilly climbing area and national park in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains. It is located around the Elbe valley south-east of Dresden in Saxony, Germany, adjoining Bohemian Switzerland in the Czech Republic. Toge ...
in Eastern Germany. It runs from
Niederrathen upstream to
Rathewalde. The valley takes hikers through the Rathen rock basin with its bizarre rock formations. Its touristic high points are the lake of
Amselsee
The Amselsee (also ''Amselsee Rathen'') is a small reservoir in the spa town of Rathen in Saxon Switzerland. It is located in the Free State of Saxony in Eastern Germany.
Reservoir
To create the Amselsee in Saxon Switzerland, in 1934 a stream, ...
and the
Amsel Falls, that trickles over the grotto called the ''Amselloch''. The valley bottom that is densely wooded is surrounded by a backdrop of rocks. To the west tower the rocks of the ''Gansfelsen'', to the south the ''Feldsteine'' and the ''Türkenkopf'', and to the east rise the ''Honigsteine'' rocks with the striking
Lokomotive. The middle of the valley bottom is dominated by the striking ''Talwächter''.
Whilst the character of the valley profile in its upper reaches is rather ravine-like, between its entrance to the ''
Schwedenlöcher
The Schwedenlöcher is a gorge-like side valley of the Amselgrund near Rathen in Saxon Switzerland.
History
The deeply incised ravine was formed by the erosion of the soft sandstone. Its course follows the Elbe Sandstone Mountains#Geology, ma ...
'' and Nieder
rathen
Rathen is a village in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains, in Saxony, Germany, about southeast of Dresden. The village occupies both banks of the river Elbe and, as of 2020, has 339 inhabitants. Rathen is a popular tourist destination, the main sigh ...
it is a steep valley. On the stream bed
ripple marks
In geology, ripple marks are sedimentary structures (i.e., bedforms of the lower flow regime) and indicate agitation by water ( current or waves) or directly by wind.
Defining ripple cross-laminae and asymmetric ripples
* ''Current ripple ...
may be seen. Above the Amsel Falls, large, fallen
sandstone
Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...
boulders block the watercourse, so that the rather lower water quantities of the Grünbach have to find their way past them.
Landforms of Saxon Switzerland
Valleys of Saxony
Rathen
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