Hoher Brand

The Hoher Brand is a densely wooded mountain rising 802.8 m in the Westerzgebirge near Klingenthal. It sits five kilometres west-south-west of the town, between the Czech border and the Zwotatal valley. Geologists place the peak in the Vogtland’s Südvogtländisch-Westerzgebirgische Querzone rather than the Elstergebirge. The entire summit ridge forms part of the Klingenthaler Bergrücken, a forested upland that stretches toward the Erzgebirge. A triangulation pillar from the 19th-century Saxon state survey marks the summit. In winter the 9 km Hohe-Brand-Loipe crosses the ridge, linking the Gopplasgrüner Höhe car park on the B283 with the Erlbacher district of Landesgemeinde. A shorter 5 km loop is marked for families and beginners. Snowshoe routes also start from the same parking area when conditions allow. Visitors find a quiet conifer forest with limited views through the trees. The wide gravel track of the long-distance loipe winds over gentle slopes, passing small clearings and old boundary stones. In clear weather the Czech Krudum massif appears to the south. The air is cool even in summer, and the only sounds are wind in the pines and the distant call of ravens.