Uttewalder Grund and its Rock Gate

Between moss-green sandstone walls the path narrows until you pass beneath huge boulders that once fell from above and jammed between the cliffs. The Rock Gate in the Uttewalder Grund is one of the oldest motifs of Saxon Switzerland: Caspar David Friedrich stayed here around 1800 and sketched it, and the Norwegian painter Johan Christian Clausen Dahl followed. Today the Malerweg (Painters' Way) runs through the gorge, and the walk from Lohmen to Stadt Wehlen is one of the finest short hikes in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains.

History: the old road to the Bastei

In Saxon Switzerland a "Grund" is a narrow, deeply cut valley, with or without a stream. The Uttewalder Grund formed in the last Ice Age, when meltwater deepened cracks in the sandstone. Around 1800 only a narrow footpath ran through it; in 1835 the path was widened and bridged, a date carved into the rock near the gate, and in 1837 the "Waldidylle" inn opened as a summer tavern.

Until the Elbe valley railway opened in 1851, the route from Pillnitz via the Liebethal Grund, Lohmen and the Uttewalder Grund to the Bastei was the main way into Saxon Switzerland, so almost every traveller and artist came this way. The gorge has been part of Saxon Switzerland National Park since 1990.

What to see

• The rock gate: Wedged boulders forming a natural arch over the path, strictly speaking in the adjoining Schleifgrund above the Waldidylle.
• The gorge: Steep, overhanging walls with mosses, ferns and lichens; cool even in midsummer, and the stream is usually almost dry.
• Inscriptions on the rocks and two climbing towers, the Bergfalkenturm and the Einsamer Turm.
• Waldidylle inn, in a building dating from 1790.

In 1847 the rare Tunbridge filmy fern was discovered here, its easternmost known site; it vanished about 70 years later.

The hike

The classic route starts at the Lohmen Meißner Hochland bus stop and follows the Malerweg into the Schleifgrund, through the gate and down via the Uttewalder and Wehlener Grund to Stadt Wehlen on the Elbe: about 5.9 km, easy, roughly 1 hour 40 minutes. A short detour to the Teufelsschlüchte and the view from Wehlen castle ruin are worthwhile.

Getting there

Bus 237 to Lohmen Meißner Hochland; return from Stadt Wehlen by bus 238 or by ferry and S-Bahn S1. Drivers are best off parking at one end and taking the bus back. Paths are not cleared in winter.

Tripto tip

Come early in the day, and photograph the gate from slightly below so people on the path show the scale of the boulders. With more time, continue to the Bastei.