The landscape of the Kernrhön is characterized by almost treeless knolls and plateaus.
And yet it originally looked very different there before beech was cleared for house fire and charcoal in the Middle Ages.
The former name Buchonia reminds of this.
From the early 19th century on, the treeless area was used for laborious haymaking.
Even today, although there is hardly any need for winter fodder, the meadows are mowed or kept short by sheep.
The reason lies in the status of a biosphere reserve, which is intended not only to protect nature, but also to preserve grown cultural forms.
Since UNESCO awarded the Rhön the title 30 years ago, the region has made great efforts to keep the landscape and agriculture in harmony. Only a small part, such as moors or geotopes, of the reserve area, which has been enlarged several times to a good 2400 square kilometers, is not accessible to humans. Before the mowing begins at the beginning of July, the Hochrhön is perhaps showing its most beautiful side - especially beautiful thanks to the flowery-colored bristle grasses on the wide plateau of the 3300 hectare protected Langen Rhön between Bischofsheim and Fladungen. If lupins, clover or the bushy knotweed are signs of (earlier) fertilization, many endangered species find ideal retreats there: arnica, orchids, lady's mantle, globe flowers or white cotton grass.
On the other hand, there are extensive deciduous forests on the slopes of the Lange Rhön.
This scenery is impressively concentrated on the Gangolfsberg.
Above the deeply incised Elsbach, rubble forests stretch up to the height, where they recede for a wall of horizontally layered prismatic basalt - a relic of the millions of years of active volcanism to which the Rhön owes its origin and shape.
Directions
Strict traffic and visitor control is part of the biosphere reserve. In the Langen Rhön the hiking trails may not be left and vehicles may only be parked in a few places. The centrally located Schornhecke car park is ideal. From the range of numerous markings, it is sufficient for now to concentrate on the red H, an extra tour of the Hochrhöner. It crosses the street and leads up between bushes. At the highest point of the hiking circuit, you come across the 915 meter high memorial with which the Rhön Club commemorates its deceased members. On the other hand, we leave out the Heidelstein, which is ten meters higher, when the path turns left into the open space.
This is how the wide sea of blooming meadows begins. Even in the tall grass, the ideally laid out paths are easily recognizable, even when crossing the road and descending to the basalt lake that has grown all around (with an open-air snack). Last but not least, he and some polygonal pillars stand for the change in the Rhön: Here, as in so many other places, the spoil hole of a basalt quarry once yawned. Beyond the pond, we continue the path, the wider left briefly turning into a meandering path, which then accompanies it for one kilometer until it crosses again over a road. Over there is the opportunity to shorten the lap by skipping the Gangolfsberg. The variant is pleasant to walk, of course you miss the natural spectacle of the Elsbach and the prism wall. The leadership is now incumbent on the red triangle, who has been involved for a long time.It descends next to the road for about 400 meters before turning left into the slippery path shortly after the beginning of the forest. It ends at the bottom of a wooden footbridge over the Elsbach, only to climb back over there. Despite the elevated lookout point, you can easily see the wild fellow on his bubbling ride over rocks and fallen trees.