Saale - Water hiking from Hirschberg to Harra - Stage 1

With the appropriate water level in Hof (minimum 1.80 m, current water level here), start your route in Hirschberg at the Steinmühlenwehr. 500 m further, you must overcome your first obstacle (right/re). After 5 km, you come to the Sparnberg weir (right), followed 100 m further by the Sparnberg festival area (right) with an opportunity to rest.

Continue along the border river to the Blumenaumühle, the sporting highlight of this section. At the marked exit point (right), load your boat onto the brought boat trolley and carry it about 600 m and over the "Green Bridge" to the entry point on the Franconian side. In Blankenberg, the canoe fish pass is not navigable (CLOSED!). Please carry around the weir. A trip to the Bastei with castle ruins is also worthwhile. After about 2 km, you reach the Rennsteig community of Blankenstein where the Selbitz flows into the Saale. Here you find shopping options and tourist information (left/li). There is one more weir to overcome (right) before you can paddle carefree to Harra. Interesting insights are offered by the impressive pulp and paper factory. In Harra, there are resting and dining facilities (left).

Life jacket, bathing shoes

The weirs and hydropower plants in the Saale must be carried around unless otherwise indicated. To carry around the canoes, you should be at least two people; for inflatable boats, at least four people are necessary.

Please note that the flow speed of the Saale depends on the water level. We advise against water hiking when the water level is too high after heavy rainfall.

The current water level at the Hof gauge can be found here.

On your arrival, you can visit the German-German Museum in Mödlareuth with the former border installations between the two German states.