Barrier-free experiences

Mobility impairments will not hinder you from exploring the National Park. In the following we will show you various possibilities. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have further questions. This also applies for people with other impairments. We will gladly discuss possibilities for your individual nature experience in the National Park.

Climbing the Brocken on four or more wheels

From May to October wheelchair users may reach the summit of the Brocken with the Harz Narrow Gauge Railway (German: Harzer Schmalspurbahnen). You can board either at Wernigerode or Drei Annen Hohne. With the steaming iron horse you will pass the Goethe bog and trespass the primeval forest around the Brocken. Due to technical issues a reservation at least three days in advance is necessary. To register please contact the Harz Narrow Gauge Railways (website in German) online or call +49 3943 5580. On the summit there is the wheelchair-accessible Brockenhaus Visitor Centre (website in German). There is, however, a pitch to overcome between the train station and the Brockenhaus. Brocken garden is also partially accessible with a wheelchair.

Exploring the forests around Bad Harzburg by bus

In Bad Harzburg, the Haus der Natur Visitor Centre (website in German) invites mobility-impaired people to visit an exhibition full of impressions, discoveries and activities. The building has a wheelchair accessible toilet. Starting from the square Berliner Platz, a bus (KVG line 875, registration required for groups of 20 and more) will take you into the lovely beech forests of the National Park between April and mid-November. An accompanying person is required for boarding. The bus will take you to the Molkenhaus and Rabenklippe forest restaurants and to the lynx enclosure.

Barrier-free Brocken viewpoint

After the short barrier-free path between Altenau and Torfhaus you are rewarded with a marvellous view of the Brocken. There are two disabled parking spaces right at the beginning of the path. For further information please contact the forester in charge on +49 5382 321. Afterwards you should visit the TorfHaus National Park Visitor Centre (website in German, barrier-free exhibition and a wheelchair accessible toilet). Here you can accompany the famous German poets Goethe and Heine on a multimedia-based trip to the Brocken.

Mobile in and around Sankt Andreasberg

The region around Sankt Andreasberg offers various things as well. The Sankt Andreasberg National Park Visitor Centre (website in German) has fascinating information about geology, the aftermath of mining and the current forest wilderness (wheelchair accessible toilet). Rehberger Grabenhaus forest restaurant between Sankt Andreasberg and Sonnenberg is accessible via a path suitable for wheelchairs. However, there is a little pitch to overcome. Here you can gather impressions about Harz National Park and the cultural heritage of the historic ditch called Rehberger Graben, a part of the UNESCO World Heritage "Upper Harz Water Management System". Near Rehberger Graben you have a magnificent view of the Oder valley.

Barrier-free wild animal watching

Watching animals on your own in the forest can be difficult. But starting from the car park in Oderhaus, a district of Sankt Andreasberg, you just take a 1.5 kilometre wheelchair-accessible path to reach the barrier-free wild animal watching station in the Oder valley. You should not rush; bring some patience as the animals will not show up on command.
You can complete your trip with a stop at Rinderstall forest restaurant (access to dining room via stairs, no wheelchair accessible toilet). You just follow the wheelchair-accessible path for another kilometre.

Travelling the region around Ilsenburg and Drei Annen Hohne

A low-floor bus equipped with an additional folding ramp, the so-called "Ilsetaler", operates between May and October on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Twice a day it goes from Wernigerode to Drei Annen Hohne passing Ilsenburg and some other parts of the National Park. Groups are asked to register in advance on +49 3943 5640. During the tour the bus stops at Plessenburg forest restaurant, at Steinerne Renne waterfall and at HohneHof Nature Experience centre, which is barrier-free (wheelchair accessible toilet).