Beautiful views of the Saale valley and castles.

The "Geopfad" Bad Kösen (former "Himmelreichweg") leads over the Rudelsburg, the Saaleck Castle, the Himmelreich Inn and thereby over the heights to the right and left of the Saale.

The length of the hiking trail is 10 km, the differences in altitude two times about every 100m, so that one should plan at least 3,5 hours, plus stop for refreshments and rest.

Several information boards along the hiking trail inform about the geology of the Saale valley in this area.

The hiking trail is very well signposted and marked, so a hiking map is not absolutely necessary. It also does not matter whether one walks the hiking trail clockwise or in the opposite direction.

Refreshments are available at the Rudelsburg and the Himmelreich restaurant.

In 1826 Franz Kugler composed the well-known folk song "An der Saale hellem Strande" at the Rudelsburg.

In the area of the Rudelsburg four monuments were erected by corps student associations, which are worth visiting.

The more than 800 year old Saaleck Castle is not managed. Nevertheless it is worth visiting it, because you can enjoy a wonderful view into the Saale valley: Picnic areas are available.
In 1922 Saaleck Castle was the last hiding place of the assassins of Walter Rathenau.

An interesting and popular variant of the hiking trail is to take the signposted descent, the Kuno Gorge, from Saaleck Castle to the Saaleck landing stage and from there to be taken back to Bad Kösen by passenger ship.