page_title: Saxon Switzerland National Park
section_title: Tourism and recreation
hierarchical_section_title: Saxon Switzerland National Park / Tourism and recreation
caption_attribution_description: English: A Bracken grove along one of the many hiking trails in the area. Erzgebirge, Germany.
context_page_description: Saxon Switzerland National Park, is a National Park in the German Free State of Saxony, near the Saxon capital Dresden. It covers two areas of 93.5 km² in the heart of the German part of the Elbe Sandstone Mountains, which is often called Saxon Switzerland.
  The National Park adjoins Bohemian Switzerland National Park in the Czech Republic.
context_section_description: The definition of national Park is, in some cases, in conflict with tourism and recreation. One objective is to raise the inviolate area to 75%, which means limiting the areas of hiking and climbing. 
  The development of the network of paths in today's national park took place in the first half of the 19th century and completed at the beginning of the 20th century. The historical route guides illustrate it thoroughly (e.g., Meinhold's route guide). The first hiking restrictions were declared as early as in the 1980s (Thorwalder Wände ridge path). Today the National Park has a marked network of 400 km of hiking trails, numerous mountain restaurants, and some 50 km of cycling trails. It is compulsory to use marked routes in the National Park. Though visitors may use all paths outside the core zone, only marked trails are allowed within the core zone.
  The painter's way
  The painter's way (Malersweg in German) represents only a small part of the park area, but due to its beauty and being a well-developed trail, most visitors prefer it for hiking. The Bastei bridge is the first view of the Valley for many visitors and is extensively photographed and documented.
caption: A fern grove along one of the many hiking trails in the area
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