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Zeulenroda-Triebes / Eisfeld (dpa / th) - Despite a rush of visitors in the Thuringian low mountain ranges, the network of hiking trails in the Free State is to become smaller in the coming years.
"There are thousands of kilometers of hiking trails in Thuringia that nobody cares about and that simply rot," said the coordinator of the Thuringian Forest nature reserve, Ralf Kirchner.
"Less is sometimes more.
This is the only way to maintain and increase the quality of the paths in the long term.
The hiking association, as a representative of the eight major Thuringian hiking clubs with a total of over 8,000 members, shares this assessment.
According to the hiking association, there are currently around 16,000 kilometers of trails in the Free State.
Some lines were built in the 1990s and could not be maintained under today's conditions.
The 33 particularly well-developed routes with a total length of around 1,800 kilometers, which are therefore designated as so-called predicate trails, are not affected - they include the Schwarzatal Panorama Trail, the Kyffhäuser Trail or the Hexenpfad in the Rhön.
According to Thüringer Tourismus GmbH, over 500,000 visitors were counted on the Rennsteig in 2020 despite corona-related hotel closings, 44,000 more than in the previous year.
In the Thuringian Forest the number of visitors rose by at least 25,000, exact figures are not available.
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© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210508-99-515910 / 2