Autumn hike near Ilsenburg: A paradise of fly agaric mushrooms

Christina/ October 3, 2024/ The daily grind

I have been to Ilsenburg several times already. It really is a charming little town in the eastern Harz with lots of flair. However, what we encountered this time in the Harz National Park, and especially in such quantities, really surprised us.

Closed due to overcrowding
To start, we couldn’t find a parking spot in the Ilsetal on this Sunday morning. Everything was full. No chance. I’m amazed at how many new parking spaces have been added in recent years. Still, there’s a real hype going on here. But, who knows, maybe it’s for the best that we ended up parking on the other side of Ilsenburg. Eventually, we land in Suental and find a spot. It’s wonderfully quiet here. From the car, we head straight uphill into the forest.

The lake lies still
We follow the Suental. Beside us runs the Suenbeek, immediately creating a relaxed atmosphere. Further up, we come to a lake. Our first destination is the Taubenklippe, which is number four on the Harz hiking pin system. We quickly realize that our starting point isn’t bad at all. Unlike Ilsetal, we have this place to ourselves and can enjoy the peace and quiet. After a while, we come across a few mushroom pickers. Now we’re alert and pay even more attention to the sides of the path. Could we perhaps spot some porcini mushrooms? And then it begins—not with porcini, but with those little red-capped mushrooms. The ones with the red tops and white spots. Exactly: fly agaric mushrooms. At first, there are only a few. We marvel at the colors and shapes that sprout up around us. We take our first photos, at first somewhat cautiously.

Heather at the Taubenklippe
From the Würtemberger Bank, we head to the Taubenklippe. After Burkhard collects the stamp, we climb higher. Delicate heather grows on the Taubenklippe, and some of it is even blooming a little. From up here, we have a wonderful view of the surroundings. Autumn air is often very clear, giving us a perfect view. While Burkhard is still searching for a geocache, I slowly make my way down. Once back at the bottom, we consider what to do next. Should we head to the Scharfenstein? That seems a bit far, especially since it’s already afternoon. So we decide to head toward the Froschfelsen. Here, stamp station HWN5 is waiting for Burkhard. But on the way, we experience our “red wonder.” We come across a clearing full of various types of fly agaric mushrooms: small ones that look like tomatoes, partially eaten ones showing the teeth marks of their destroyer. We see mushroom families and others just emerging from the earth. We are fascinated. It’s really hard for us to tear ourselves away, we’re so captivated by this fly agaric pathway.

At the Froschfelsen
Eventually, we continue onward. We still want to reach the Froschfelsen. I completed my stamp hunt back in 2019 and have been a “Wanderkaiserin” (hiking queen) ever since. After all this time, I can hardly remember the Froschfelsen. However, the landscape has also changed due to the spruce die-off in the Harz in recent years. It’s quite possible that it looked completely different here in 2016 and 2018. When we reach hiking stamp number five, I don’t recognize the rock formation at all. And I can’t really see a frog in the rock formation either—too little imagination today. From here, we want to head back to Ilsenburg. Burkhard has scoped out a very beautiful path. And, as if it couldn’t be otherwise, we see even more fly agaric mushrooms. Once again, we discover a whole colony by the roadside. Once again, we take loads of pictures, trying out different settings and making the most of the warm afternoon light. Oh, it’s really hard for us to leave this beautiful clearing behind.

Special stamp “Bark Beetle Path”
Before we head back down the steep Jägerstieg to Ilsenburg, we encounter one more surprise. Just as we’re about to turn right, we spot a green box out of the corner of our eye. Wait, could that be a stamp box? But there’s nothing here, is there? Well, we reach a special stamp—its name is “Borkenkäferpfad” (Bark Beetle Path). I have to laugh heartily at the fact that a monument has been dedicated to this small but notorious pest here. Of course, we don’t miss the opportunity to stamp our hiking book. From the path, we turn left onto the Jägerstieg. It’s a beautiful trail that I didn’t even know about. When we reach the Ilse at the bottom, we follow the forest to the left, back to our starting point in Ilsenburg. A wonderful and very varied autumn hike with many surprises.

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