The Karst Trail () is a marked and signed

footpath A footpath (also pedestrian way, walking trail, nature trail) is a type of thoroughfare that is intended for use only by pedestrians and not other forms of traffic such as Motor vehicle, motorized vehicles, bicycles and horseback, horses. They ...

that runs for over 250 kilometres between Förste in

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...

and Pölsfeld in

Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt ( ; ) is a States of Germany, state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.17 million inhabitants, making it the List of German states ...

through the

karst Karst () is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone and Dolomite (rock), dolomite. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. Ther ...

landscape of the South Harz in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. The path runs past a number of areas of natural beauty, including caves like the Heimkehle and the

Barbarossa Cave The Barbarossa Cave () is an anhydrite cave (gypsum cave) in the Kyffhäuser Hills near Rottleben in the east German state of Thuringia. It is a cave with large caverns, grottos and lakes. The anhydrite has formed gypsum on the surface due to the ...

sinkhole A sinkhole is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. The term is sometimes used to refer to doline, enclosed depressions that are also known as shakeholes, and to openings where surface water ...

s like the Juessee and the Schwimmende Insel, depressions, moor landscapes like the

Teufelsbäder The Teufelsbäder ("Devil's Baths") is the name of a Moorland, moor landscape near Osterode am Harz in the Harz Mountains of central Germany. It lies within the nature reserve of the same name southeast of Augustental on the Bundesstraße 243, B 24 ...

, karst springs like the Rhumequelle and the Teufelsloch, disappearing streams and subterranean rivers like the Bauerngraben and gypsum rocks.

External links

Homepage of the Karst Trail

Hiking trails in Germany Karst formations of Germany Tourist attractions in Lower Saxony Tourist attractions in Saxony-Anhalt Osterode (district) {{SaxonyAnhalt-geo-stub