J9 - hike via Pfaffengut to the Pöhl dam

Starting at the parking lot at the Jößnitz stop, the path leads down to the Kaltenbach, past the Pfaffenmühle to the Pfaffengut Environmental and Nature Conservation Center, idyllically situated in the Plauen city forest. Here you can learn stories about the former life on the manor and everything about nature, the four elements in the rock garden, and much more. A detour to the Hermann Falconry should not be missed. You will get goosebumps watching a demonstration with spectacular stoops by falcons, the majestic flight of eagles high in the sky, and the silent gliding of owls overhead.

Then the path leads towards Lochbauer. The three-sided farm, built in 1648, houses a cozy excursion restaurant with a beer garden. Along the route, you can already spot the arches of the Elster Valley Bridge. Refreshed, you cross the babbling White Elster over a wooden bridge. After an ascending section of the path, the landscape opens up to a view of the "Vogtland Sea", the Pöhl dam. On a short detour along the path, you reach the Julius Mosen Tower, named after the poet born and raised in Vogtland. After climbing the tower, you are rewarded with a magnificent panoramic view of the dam with its dam wall and the lush central Vogtland hill landscape with the Elster Valley and the Elster Valley Bridge.

Arriving in Jocketa, be sure to admire the Elster Valley Bridge - the second largest brick bridge in the world - before returning relaxed and full of wonderful impressions by train to Jößnitz.

Jößnitz station – Pfaffenmühlenweg – Pfaffenmühle – along Pfaffengutstraße to the junction – follow Pfaffengutstraße down (signposted J9 and marked white-red-white) – right over the bridge – Lochbauer farm – crossing the White Elster – Pöhl dam – left turn to Jocketa – Jocketa stop

sturdy footwear

Refreshment options and sights along the way

• Pfaffenmühle Restaurant, Pfaffenmühlenweg 18, 08547 Jößnitz, Phone: 03741/525772, www.pfaffenmuehle.de

• Bistro am Ankerplatz, Hauptstraße 50, 08543 Pöhl (directly at the ship landing stage), Phone: 0179/2438285

• Landhotel Alt-Jocketa, Dorfaue 1, 08543 Pöhl, Phone 037439/6254, www.landhotel-altjocketa.de

• Falconry Herrmann (at the intersection towards Pfaffengut, turn right along Pfaffengutstraße), Phone: 0174/9147124, www.falknerei-herrmann.de

• Pfaffengut Plauen - Vogtland Environmental and Nature Conservation Center (estate park, farm garden, orchard meadow, geological rock garden, wildcat enclosure and trail, plant purification system), Phone: 03741/522897, www.pfaffengutplauen.de, Tree trail

• Pöhl dam (boat trips, climbing forest, leisure and adventure park, boat rental), Tourist information (at Gunzenberg campsite), Phone: 037439/45050, www.talsperre-poehl.de

• Triebtal nature reserve: a 131-hectare nature reserve with impressive landscape and nature, a wild romantic untouched hiking trail along the riverbank - an idyll for hiking and nature lovers

• Pöhl dam wall - an impressive structure with a height of 61 meters, a length of 312 meters and a thickness of 40 meters at the base

• Julius Mosen Tower (74 steps, 14 meters high) on the 435-meter-high Eisenberg with far-reaching panoramic views of the Pöhl dam, the dam wall, the Elster Valley Bridge, the central Vogtland hill landscape with the Elster Valley

Visit the Plauen Environmental and Nature Conservation Center and watch the feeding of the wildcats.