East from Hersbruck - Hohenstadt, Eschenbach, Ruine Lichtenstein

Today I've visited mountains on the east from Hersbruck (Franconian Jura). I've come to the small city Hohenstadt, lying at the river Pegnitz. Normally you can get there by regional train from Nürnberg (DB Regio), but nowadays there are renovation works on railway tracks between Hersbruck and Bayreuth, and periodically you need to change to replacement bus.

Hahnaluch, a cave adapted as house, according to information label someone was living here in XIX century

Another view on Hahnaluch

A bit above Hahnaluch

Rabbit run trail - Seitensprungpfad?

A climbing rock

A monument erected in 1870

War cemetery (1st WW)

A bench and a spring - something for tired hiker

Hohenstadt - Innenstadt

Pegnitz in Hohenstadt

Ruin Lichtenberg - this castle was inhabited by robber knights

Ruin - view inside

Ruin - panorama. On the right you see Hohenstadt, beyond Hersbruck, on the left in the last plan you can see the Moritzberg

Leitenberg

A way to Kreuzberg

On the pick of Kreuzberg. You see the cross (Kreuz) 

Panorama from Kreuzberg

Hubmersberg - a herd of proud Bavarian cows

A panorama view on the Franconian Jura mountains

Interesting rocks - I've called then the hammer and the anvil

A panorama of Eschenbach

Eschenbach - church

Eschenbach - Innenstadt

A typical Bavarian timber framing (Fachwerk) house. 

Pegnitz near Eschenbach

Pegnitz valley

Hersbruck - war monument (2nd WW)

Birkensee

Birkensee is the little lake about 13 km east from Nuremberg. In fact, there are 2 lakes, placed in the old sandpit, but only the bigger of them is used as the recreation area, the little one is the natural reserve.

Birkensee is very popular place to swim. More experienced swimmers swim across the lake, while the beginners are swimming near the coast, mostly in the south-east part, where the lake bottom is descending gently. There's the water lifeguard point on the north side of the lake, but the lifeguards have no regular hours of presence. Sometimes they are leaving soon after noon, sometimes they are arriving about the noon - there's no information about their working hours, so it's quite unpredictable to me.

The whole coast is used as the nudist plaza. It is allowed not only to sunbath nude (nude sunbathing is generally allowed in Germany on the plazas), but also nude walking around the lake and nude swimming. About a half of visitors is sunbathing and swimming without clothes.

Motorized can go there by car, there's a parking a few minutes walk from the lake. There's no public transport point nearby, the easiest to go there is by using bus from Fischbach Bahnhof to Brunn, and about 40 minutes walk. The bus goes every 40 minutes on Saturdays and every 80 minutes on Sundays (Nuremberg city ticket). As alternative, you can go from Röttenbach to Renzenhof, which is a bit near, but the bus goes only a few times a day. Of course, you can go there by bike.

A footbath to Birkensee starts here, in the little village Brunn, which is administratively a part of Nuremberg

You go in that direction, on the background you see the Moritzberg

From the south-west side of Birkensee you have a beautiful view on Moritzberg

The east coast of the Birkensee is the sand scarp

North-east coast, with water lifeguard shelter

The footpath from Brunn to Birkensee, 3.68 kilometers long, 69 m elevation, it took me 35 minutes to get there. 

Nuremberg - Lorenzer Reichswald in winter

Nuremberg (Nürnberg) borders on the east side with the forest Lorenzer Reichswald. The photos were made in the part of this forest between the ZOO and the Brunner Berg (443 m n.p.m.). Nice watching!

Sandstone rocks

Sandstone walls

Trudenweg

This bench hasn't got any visitor this day!

Valtznerweiher

Brunner Berg from the south side