A mere half-hour’s walk will take you out of the centre of Železná Ruda to the border crossing in the Ferdinand valley. Walk for another half-hour, passing through the valley of the Defferník stream, and you will discover the lovely village of Zwieslerwaldhaus below Falkenstein hill. The village boasts the oldest pub in the Bavarian Forest. From here you may also visit Schwellhäusel, an interesting tourist destination with a peculiar pub located by a reservoir. The so-called Kneipova trail starts here, leading along the raceway and flanked by forests. The pub taps beer from the rock at the weekends and there is also a mini-zoo for children.

Grosser Falkenstein, 1,315 m

A peak with a cross atop boasting a glass heart offers a partial view of the surroundings, a mountain chalet and a chapel with colored biers, and it is only accessible on foot (for instance from Zwieslerwaldhause through a very old forest past the waterfalls), or by bike from the border crossing in the Ferdinand valley along cycle trail No. 7, with a high elevation difference. The nearby Rukowitzschachten offers splendid views of Velký Javor and the entire Železná Ruda area. This place was once used as pastures and its surroundings resemble one big garden.
There is a waterfall called Steinbachfälle on the side from Zwieslerwaldhaus and another one, named Hölbachgespreng, lies on the other side of the hill. There is an international campsite and a popular sport centre in Zwieslerwaldhaus.

Falkenstein National Park Centre

Haus zur Wildnis – ‘Wilderness House’, Ludwigsthal

Tel.: +49 9922 5002 0
Step into the history and natural world at the Falkenstein National Park Centre (including a large car park and train station on the Zwiesel-Bayerish Eisenstein railway) near Ludwigsthal. You will have the opportunity to see animals that live in the Bavarian Forest and Šumava, as well as those that lived there in the past. You can also admire the ridge of Javor mountain from a different side than the Czech one. The Wilderness House and restaurant boast a number of interesting interactive exhibitions and promotional materials on natural attractions of the national parks. The walk is 2.5 km long and takes approximately 2 to 3 hours.
Tel.: +49 9922 50020
Opening hours: 26.12 – 31. 3. - daily 9.30 a.m. – 5 p.m.., 1.4. to the beginning of November - daily 9.30 a.m. 6 p.m., closed from second week in November until Christmas. Animal enclosures are open year-round. Free entry.

You can drive or take a regular tour from Železná Ruda and visit the currently very popular Unique Tree Tops Trail in Neuschönau, near another Bavarian Forest National Park Information Centre. The trail is 1,300 metres long and ends at a 44-metre-high viewing tower.
Tours: Mon - Fri (8 a.m. –1 p.m.) – individual visitors: 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., otherwise open for groups of min. 6 people every 30 minutes. Tel.: +420 376 593 384, 376 593 381, glassware shop onsite, e-mail: sklarna.anin@tiscali.cz