Discover Schellerhau: Gardens, Hiking Trails and Winter

Schellerhau combines a botanical garden, hiking trails with different focuses and seasonal winter activities. Its nature themes range from a collection of cultivated plants to species-rich mountain meadows and moorland forests. For planning your visit, you can also choose from a circular hiking trail, a children’s trail and an adventure trail with sound instruments. In winter, a ski slope and network of cross-country ski trails are also available.

Botanical Garden and Mountain Meadows

The Schellerhau Botanical Garden covers 1.5 hectares and features around 1,400 different plant species. They are cultivated exclusively outdoors. This makes the collection a distinctive nature attraction in its own right: the focus is on the diversity of species growing outdoors in the garden. The “Nature & Music” adventure trail adds eight natural sound instruments to this focus. Plants and music give the garden two distinct themes to consider when choosing an outing.

Another way to experience the landscape is to visit the “Mountain Meadows around Schellerhau and Altenberg” FFH area. Around Schellerhau, it includes larger complexes of meadows featuring species-rich mountain meadows, mat-grass swards, wet meadows, marshy areas and moorland forests. These habitats are interwoven in a mosaic. The cultivated plant collection in the garden and the diverse habitat mosaic of the FFH area thus represent two different perspectives on nature.

Hiking with Different Focuses

There is an extensive, well-signposted network of hiking trails around Schellerhau. One specific option is the circular hiking trail around Schellerhau. It passes Stephanshöhe, one of the 14 “eight-thousanders” in the Eastern Ore Mountains. The route is suitable for pushchairs and wheelchair users. You can explore this named circular hike, with its distinctive waypoint, or make use of the wider trail network.

The “Teufelino” children’s trail offers a different focus: it is based on a legend about the origins of Schellerhau and has small destinations along the route. It includes a child-friendly booklet with a stamp card. Here, the story and small stops take centre stage; the circular hiking trail, meanwhile, passes Stephanshöhe and is suitable for wheelchair users. The “Nature & Music” adventure trail in the Botanical Garden, with its eight natural sound instruments, offers another thematic option.

Winter at Rotterhang and on the Cross-Country Ski Trails

There is a drag lift at Rotterhang in Schellerhau. The ski run is around 200 metres long, and the slope is floodlit for evening skiing. Lift operations and evening skiing are seasonal; evening operations may vary. Schellerhau also has direct access to the approximately 70-kilometre groomed cross-country ski trail network in the Altenberg holiday region, as well as to cross-regional trails. Trail grooming is seasonal and weather-dependent.

The winter activities differ considerably in form: Rotterhang focuses on downhill skiing, while the trail network offers cross-country skiing over an extensive route system. When planning your travel dates, bear in mind the seasonal nature of lift and evening operations, as well as weather-dependent trail grooming.

Schellerhau as a Place to Stay

Your interests can help you choose the right time to visit and decide how to spend your days. Bus route 367 runs from Altenberg to Schellerhau. If you plan to use this service, check the connection before travelling.

Discover more destinations: Hermsdorf/Erzgebirge, Kurort Kipsdorf, Bärenburg.

Go to the main travel overview: Altenberg.