The Wild Man's Trail

The first station is devoted to the legend of the Wild Man who supposedly inhabited the local groves and once haunted the people living in the greater vicinity. This station also draws attention to a small nearby monument commemorating the Schweidrichhäusel, a disappeared cottage which used to be the gathering place for a local gentlemen’s club.

The trail goes on until it reaches a former granite quarry, where the next station awaits with an info panel. The site is not only of mineralogical and geological interest but also harbours attractive plant and animal species. On the lower storey of the quarry, one finds a population of the common spotted orchid (Dactylorhiza fuchsii). Higher up is a waterlogged section. Surveys have revealed the presence of amphibian life, as represented by the smooth newt, once a common sight everywhere in this country.  The subterranean space of the quarry, and of the nearby Schweidrich mine, serve as the wintering grounds for a number of bat species – the greater mouse-eared bat, Brandt’s bat, Natterer’s bat, the northern bat, the brown long-eared bat, and Daubenton’s bat.

In the forest, ahead of the first station, the educational trail splits. Hikers who decide to follow the path in the opposite direction of the quarry will be taken all the way to the top of Deer Rock (Jelení skála), to a place known as the Grohmann Rise. Given the current deforestation of the local spruce stands, visitors can enjoy a one-of-a-kind view that takes in the surroundings of Šluknov, which has been shut off for the past 80 years. A wooden panoramic chart provides helpful guidance.