The Old mining tour is one of the four themed cycle paths in Muskau Arch Geopark. Along the circular route, 19 information boards report on previous mining activities and the landscape in the Muskau folds
Route profile
- Length: 20.5km (exclusive optional circumnavigation of Lake Felix)
- Signposting: Basically quite good and apart from a few cases without complaints, therefore almost passable without a card. At the end of the article, there are a few comments about false signage. Such special features are pointed out and linked within the text with an exclamation mark in brackets.
- Slopes: There are no steep inclines on the way. The landscape is a bit hilly, but does not require much effort
- Road condition: Mostly separate asphalt bike paths or hardly used public roads. Some places are unpaved, some parts of the town are cobblestone.
- Traffic load: Except for the crossing of the federal highway B115 minimal
- Suitable bike: Every fitness and cross bike is ideally suited here. But children on their little bikes can usually also ride the route. Due to some unpaved passages and occasional cobblestones on the asphalt, racing bikes are only suitable to a limited extent.
- Family suitability: Quite good, there are a lot of quiet sections and the length of the tour is not too long.
- Inline suitability: Rather not. The forest passages are littered with pine cones at some times of the year, and then there are the unpaved passages that crop up again and again.
- GPS track: The round tour as GPX file or as KML file (In the north, on the edge of Klein Kölzig, the track had a small detour of a few 100 meters. It is not part of the cycle path. Due to the lack of signage, the author took the wrong route.)
background
The Muskau Arch is a very interesting and delightful area in terms of industrial history and landscape. In this region, lignite was mined in deep mining until the end of 1959. It all started in 1843 with the "Julius" mine near Wolfshain. The old mining tour tells something about the history of mining and some of the neighboring villages as well as the flora and fauna in the affected region. Further information is also available in the article about the Mining in Lusatia.
preparation
No major preparation is necessary. Tools should be on board (there is no bike repair shop on the way, directly on the way), as well as a bottle of drinking liquid. Rest is possible in Jocksdorf, Bohsdorf and Groß Kölzig. There is a bicycle service right in the town of Döbern, a little way from the cycle path itself.
getting there
Public transportation
The only means of public transport is the bus. Line 851 runs from cottbus to Döbern. There are points of contact with the route in the north of Döbern and in Bohsdorf-Vorwerk. There you can start the tour.
By bicycle
There is a network of cycle paths in the area, although not in all directions. They are marked in red on the map. For the direct journey from Cottbus, you still have to use the public roads on some sections. If you want to take the detour via Forst, you can use the Fürst-Pückler-Weg. There is a good connection to the region around the Spremberger reservoir (via Bagenz and Wadelsdorf or Sellessen, Groß Luja, Bloischdorf and Klein Loitz) and to Spremberg (via Türkendorf, Bloischdorf and Klein Loitz) itself.
The following designated cycle paths lead to the old mining tour:
Fürst-Pückler-Weg (… → Forst (Lausitz) → Groß Schacksdorf → Jocksdorf → Big Kölzig → Preschen → Jerischke → ...)
Lower Lusatian mining tour (… → Gahry → Mattendorf → Klein Kölzig → Big Kölzig → Döbern → Bohsdorf → Hornow → Klein Loitz ...)
In the street
Anyone who straps their bike onto the car can get on at any point on the tour. Bohsdorf would be particularly suitable. Plenty of parking spaces are available at Lake Felix.
Route description with sights
If you want to look out for sights, restaurants and accommodation in the vicinity of the old mining tour, you will find additional information in the regional and local articles (here in the order of the tour described):
- Bloischdorf Alps (Bohsdorf) → Jerischk Forest (Klein Kölzig) → Malxeland (Jocksdorf) → Jerischk Forest (Big and Small Kölzig) → Döbern → Bloischdorf Alps (Bohsdorf)
Bohsdorf - Klein Kölzig
The description of the tour is clockwise. The circuit starts in Bohsdorf right in front of the main attraction of the village, the “shop” - the setting for Erwin Strittmatter's well-known trilogy of novels. Directly across the street there is an old cart and sets the tone for the main theme of this local cycle path. It goes north on the public road to Bohsdorf-Vorwerk. After crossing the busy main road, it becomes quieter (2.3 km). A separate, beautiful asphalt bike path continues into the following forest landscape. At the next fork in the road keep to the right (3.7 km) ( ! ). After a few hundred meters you will pass a lake in the forest on the right; it is part of the Luisensee nature reserve. The small lake landscape consists of the residual water from the former “Franz” mine. A display panel tells a lot about the flora that has settled here. The many species of amphibians, reptiles and insects are particularly interesting - but you could also run into one or the other wild boar here. If you have the time, you can attach the bikes to the tree and go on a short hike. Continue to Klein Kölzig (4.9 km) ( ! ). You can roll yourself comfortably into the village and drive "down" to the left ( ! ), cross the village on a somewhat bumpy village road and turn left. A display not far from the old manor house gives the interested traveler some information about the place and some of its buildings (5.2 km).
Klein Kölzig - Jocksdorf - Groß Kölzig
Past the old sheep farm road, continue north on a beautiful path over the fields and forests to the country road (6.6 km), which you have to follow for a few meters. Behind the next homestead, you continue through the forest to Jocksdorf. At the entrance to the village, you turn sharply right again into the forest towards Groß Kölzig (7.8 km). If you want, you can take a break in the more than 50-year-old place in the restaurant or visit the monkey enclosure. The place also has a nice mix of old and new buildings. On a beautiful asphalt path, it now goes down into the scenic Malxen lowlands. The Malxe is the namesake of the community, which also includes Groß Kölzig and Jocksdorf. It arises on the inner edge of the fold arch, which forms a natural watershed here. A display board tells a lot of details about this unique landscape. The path now leads directly to Groß Kölzig and on a cobblestone street directly into the center of the village. In front of the Marienkirche is the Heimatstube which also houses a local exhibition. In front of you are two natural monuments, the pillory linden tree and the Friedenseiche oak (10.6 km).
Rest:
- Country inn Paulo, No. 28, Jocksdorf. Tel.: 49(0)35695-7230. Open: Tue-Fri: 11:30 am-2:30pm and 5:00 pm-10:00pm; Sa: 11: 00-22: 00; Sun: 10: 00-22: 00.
Groß Kölzig - Brickworks Klein Kölzig - Groß Kölzig - Döbern
You leave the village in a north-westerly direction via a separate cycle path and arrive at Groß Kölziger Bruch (12.7 km). The species-rich landscape was formed by a former peat cut for the Klein Kölziger brickworks. You can also take a short break here. The Bruchmühle invites you to take a break and the open-air swimming pool opposite to cool off. As a launch, you can also take a short hike through the lake landscape. On a short and unavoidable stretch, the route now continues north on the country road with considerable traffic, but a short time later the path branches off sharply to the left and leads to the Klein Kölziger brick factory - the largest of its kind in the region at the time (13.7 km) . On the way, a display panel reports on clay mining, which was the region's second important mainstay at the time. The brickworks was built in 1892-94 on the site of an already existing one and was in operation until February 1945. It was later continued as a state-owned company, but completely stopped production in 1960. An association of enthusiastic railway fans is currently in the process of reviving the old brickworks railway. The tour continues back towards Groß Kölzig past the station of the abandoned Forst-Döbern railway line. Cross the main road again and keep slightly to the right a short time later (15.7 km). Visibility to the village of Groß Kölzig on a hill, the path turns right. To the right behind the field you can see a depression - a so-called target. A board reports on the emergence of this special landscape form. On a beautiful path you now roll down towards the town of Döbern, which you only touch at its northern end (17.1 km).
Bicycle service:
- Lachmann bike shop (A little off the route, right in the village of Döbern.), Forster Strasse 88, Döbern. Tel.: 49(0)35600-5454.
Döbern - Bohsdorf
The cycle path now heads north. A paved separate path leads in a straight line northwards along the former facilities of the "Conrad" mine. At the beginning you can still see the remains of a steam pipe that connected the Conrad boiler house with a plant in Döbern. A short time later, one arrives at the foundations of the installations of the Erika shaft (18.0 km). There is interesting information about coal mining on display boards along the entire route. At the edge of the path you can also see some of the carts that transported the coal over the course of the day in the form of a cable car. Again and again you can see elongated lakes to the right and left - residual holes, created by collapsing pits that have since collapsed. At the end of the path, at the point of the "Felix" shaft, the path turns left and winds through the forest back to Bohsdorf to the starting point of the informative themed tour (20.3 km).
Rest:
- 1 Felixsee restaurant, Dorfstrasse 51, Bohsdorf. Tel.: 49(0)35698-238. Open: Mon, Wed-Fri: 11 am-2pm and from 5pm; Sat, Sun: 11: 00-22: 00.
- Gasthof "Zum Willy" (Bohsdorf, opposite Strittmatters "Laden"). Open: Mon-Fri: 16: 00-21: 00; Sa: 15: 00-22: 00, So: 15: 00-22: 00.
Circumnavigation of the Felixsee
When you arrive back in Bohsdorf, you can also go around the Felixsee as an option. Highlights of the excursion are the imposing observation tower and the beautiful Felixsee with its blue water, which provides the necessary cooling in the summer months. In Bohsdorf the path is also signposted and you can't actually miss the access to the lake. Cross the car park and follow the path to the beautiful observation tower at the highest point on Lake Felix. Now it goes comfortably to the end of the lake. Here you come across another themed cycle path, the Geology tour You leave this immediately after 100 meters and drive back to Bohsdorf on the west side of the lake.
Missing or incorrect signage
- From Klein Kölzig, going counter-clockwise, you will reach a road splitting after about one kilometer. A sign is missing here. The tour leads to the left in the direction of Bohsdorf-Vorwerk.
- There are no signs on the northern edge of Klein Kölzig. Coming from Bohsdorf-Vorwerk you have to turn right at the entrance to the village (over the bridge). If you come in the opposite direction from the village center up the slight ascent, keep to the left behind the bridge.
- There are incorrect signs in the village of Klein Kölzig. It affects cyclists who ride counterclockwise. At the manor house in the information board above Klein Kölzig, keep to the right and cross the village (Klein Kölziger Dorfstraße). At the end of the street the signs point to the left. However, the path goes to the right, up Gahryer Weg.
trips
There are three further themed cycle paths in the Muskau Arch, which invite you to explore the region:
Geology tour - The geology in the unique Muskau fold arch is exciting.
Glass tour - The towns of Döbern and Weißwasser bear witness to the tradition of glass production. This bike path tells more.
Jerischker terminal moraine-Neisse valley tour - Here you can dive into the geological history of this region by bike.
