The Großer Kranichsee is one of the most significant raised bogs in the Ore Mountains, straddling the German-Czech border in a landscape unlike anywhere else in the region. Instead of dramatic peaks, this destination offers a vast, hushed wilderness of moss, dwarf pines and cotton grass.

The scenery here is wild and atmospheric - a high plateau at 950 metres above sea level covered in mountain pine and pockets of dark bog water. In summer the bog blooms with pale wool-grass and heather, in autumn the grasses turn rust-coloured, and in winter the whole plateau falls silent under snow, broken only by the wind. It's a place for travellers seeking solitude and a genuine encounter with untouched upland nature.

How to get there

• Carlsfeld — trail leading south from the village and the Carlsfeld reservoir, easy walk across the flat ridge plateau of the Ore Mountains
• Access is also possible from the Czech side, where the actual bog core lies

Practical information

• Parts of the reserve are strict no-entry zones (total reserves)
• Visitors may only walk on the designated boardwalk (Knüppeldamm) outside the protected core areas
• Protected since 1912, now part of the Natura 2000 network
• Home to rare species such as the pygmy owl, Tengmalm's owl and the adder

The name is believed to derive from the Slavic word granica, meaning border, making this literally the 'border bog' — and a wooden boardwalk built here back in 1908 shows that visitors have been drawn to this quiet wilderness for over a century.