The blue gold, as the slate is also called, is no longer mined here today. With the closure of the last slate mine in Lehesten/Schmiedebach in 2008, a centuries-old mining tradition came to an end.
On a hike on the Slate Trail, you will learn entertainingly about the mining tradition, discover breathtaking views into the Thuringian-Franconian Slate Mountains and find a very special vegetation on the slate rock.
The Slate Trail passes slate heaps, open cast mines and the former border strip, called the "Green Belt." Through centuries of slate mining, a very special cultural landscape has developed here. Mountain-high slate heaps covered with trees, mosses, and lichens, small lakes in the open-cast mine residual holes and a special fauna impress the hiker. Mining also shaped the small villages: everywhere you will find houses with slate roofs and variously designed slate façades.
Historical backgrounds about these villages in the Thuringian Slate Mountains/Upper Saale Nature Park and the former inner-German border are explained on information boards along the Slate Trail.
The centuries-long mining of roofing slate from the huge slate deposits of the Carboniferous and Devonian geological layers has decisively shaped the character of the Slate Land Geopark. Along the trail, there are geotopes, technical monuments and museums that emerged in the historic mining areas.
The Slate Trail can be hiked in several stages with corresponding overnight stays in the towns of Lehesten, Probstzella, Gräfenthal, and Ludwigstadt.
