Bärenstein

The Bärenstein is a mountain standing 1,077 metres above sea level in the Bohemian Forest of Upper Austria. It straddles the municipal boundaries of Ulrichsberg and Aigen-Schlägl in Rohrbach district. Four streams rise on its slopes: the Bügelbach, Hammerbach, Irrenwaldbach and a tributary of the Rotbach. The mountain lies within the 9,350-hectare Natura 2000 site known as Böhmerwald-Mühltäler. It also belongs to the 22,302-hectare Important Bird Area Böhmerwald and Mühltal. The summit is reached by way of marked hiking paths, the final metres climbed by a short staircase. From the top visitors look out over the upper Mühlviertel; to the north the Lipno reservoir on the Moldau is visible only a few kilometres away. In clear weather the chain of the Alps appears on the southern horizon. The summit cross was carried up in summer 1993 by a team led by Bernhard Enzenhofer, a well-known figure from the Mühlviertel, and erected in place. The Bärenstein also marks the start of the Ruperti long-distance trail, which runs from here to the Austrian-Italian border and forms part of European long-distance path E10. A 12-kilometre cross-country ski trail of medium difficulty, the Bärnsteinloipe, crosses the mountain. Geologically the peak is composed of Eisgarner granite. Granite tors formed by spheroidal weathering are protected as natural monuments. The slopes support acid spruce-fir-beech forests and spruce boulder woods. Wolfgang Kern’s 1979 article in the Upper Austrian regional journal examines how these tors took shape within the crystalline massif.