Vom Roten Main ins Pegnitztal

The tour follows the valleys of the Red Main, the Fichtenohe and the Pegnitz. The Pegnitz forms the eastern boundary of Franconian Switzerland. Large sections of the route are covered on separate cycle paths and forest roads.

 

Tour description: Start in Creußen at the train station. Follow the Bahnhofstraße for 500 meters, turn right at the traffic circle, 130 meters downhill, cross the Bundestraße. Turn left into Hinterer Torweg, after 60 meters turn right at the fork into Hintermühlweg. Cycle around the old town of Creuß for 700 meters, cross the main road at the traffic lights and use the Pegnitz cycle path on the left. Now cycle slightly uphill, cross the main road and then the access road to the sand pit. Master a short climb and continue cycling alongside the railroad line. Cycle under the main road, along the Craimoosweiher nature reserve and reach Schnabelwaid after 4.8 kilometers on a flat route. Cross the main road at the traffic lights here. The following 4.2 kilometers lead to the center of Zipser. Keep slightly right at the fork in the main road and turn right after 300 meters. Turn left at the weighing station and after 180 meters turn left into the paved forest road. On an undulating 1.8-kilometer descent, cross under the railroad line and join a cycle path alongside the main road. Cycle 500 meters to the district road and cross it. Follow the flat cycle path for 1.6 kilometers and cross under the Guyancourt bridge. At the southern fork in the cycle path, take a sharp right onto the bridge and cycle 330 meters to Amag-Hilpert-Straße, where you turn right. From here, cycle 800 meters to the Pegnitz train station and another 350 meters to the next intersection. Follow the slightly sloping Bahnhofstrasse for 300 meters, turn right and then left into Schloßstrasse. Cross the Pegnitz, keep slightly right at the fork and after 500 meters turn right into Galgengasse. After 200 meters, immediately before the traffic circle, change to the footpath and cycle path on the left. Visibility is restricted here! This cycle path runs for 1.1 kilometers over a hilltop parallel to the main road until it joins Veldensteiner Straße. Now turn left, ride the undulating 2 kilometers on the road and cycle path, and in the center of Horlach turn left onto Weinstraße. After 200 meters, immediately before the restaurant, turn right towards Veldensteiner Forst. From here, cycle 900 meters on a hilly gravel road to the underpass of the main road and another 600 meters to the Großen Lochstein, then turn left. Follow the moderate ascent for 700 meters, then turn right towards Kleiner Stern. Cross this large crossroads after 420 meters on a slightly ascending route straight ahead. Now follow the route on a slightly descending forest road through wildlife rest areas, after 2 kilometers cross a forest road straight ahead and after another 2 kilometers reach the railroad embankment in the Pegnitz floodplain. From here, follow the flat route for 1.3 kilometers until you reach the fork in the path at the railroad bridge. Now keep right and cycle the next 1.3 kilometers on a smooth asphalt road to the next junction. Here, cycle straight ahead again on a gravel forest road along the waterworks, master a short climb and after 1.1 kilometers turn left onto the district road. The route leads through Mosenberg, winds its way southwards and, after 3.2 kilometers, reaches the small district of Hammerschrott via the railroad bridge. For the next 300 meters at the southern end of the village, first cross the Pegnitz, then the state road and turn right onto the separate foot and cycle path towards Neuhaus a.d. Pegnitz. Now go straight on for 500 meters, turn right under the railroad bridge and after 200 meters on the main road immediately behind the Pegnitz bridge turn left towards the train station. Just another 300 meters and you have reached your destination.

 

Special features: Craimoosweiher birdwatching tower; Veldensteiner Forst: one of the largest contiguous forest areas with striking rock formations and the Pegnitz floodplain.

 

Arrival and departure as well as the return journey can be made flexibly by train. Train stations along the way: Creußen, Schnabelwaid, Pegnitz, Neuhaus a.d. Pegnitz.

 

Marking: Creußen to the old town = MainRadweg, then to Neuhaus a.d. Pegnitz = Pegnitz-Radweg PE

 

Sights: Creußen: Krügemuseum and old town; Pegnitz: Hist. town hall, Zaußenmühle with Pegnitzquelle, Schlossberg, Karstwunder Wasserberg, Stollen Erwein; Veldensteiner Forst: Großer Lochstein and Pegnitzaue; Neuhaus a.d. Pegnitz: Veldenstein Castle

 

 

Gastronomy: Creußen, Schnabelwaid, Pegnitz, Horlach, Hammerschrott, Neuhaus a.d. Pegnitz.