From the station building in Scharfenstein, keep right (upstream) along the main road. Before the railway crossing, turn towards Großolbersdorf (marked red and green). After about one hundred meters, opposite the former restaurant and guesthouse Siebers Erben, follow the red-marked Zschopau valley hiking trail. It runs always parallel to the Zschopau valley railway to Hopfgarten. On the way, you cross the Großolbersdorfer Bach, along which there is a nature teaching path.
In Hopfgarten, you reach Grünauer Straße, which you follow downhill to the right. You cross the railway tracks and turn left into Uferstraße before the bridge over the Zschopau, leaving the red marking here.
After a few hundred meters, you pass under the railway line at a rest area with a children's playground and then follow the yellow marking uphill towards Warmbad. The hiking trail, which on this section runs on the Zschopau valley cycle path, shortly after the signpost will split into two parallel tracks that reunite after a few meters. Following the river valley, after a few kilometers you pass Kellerlochfelsen, from where you have a great view into the valley.
A few hundred meters beyond this point comes a junction with a signpost where you turn right following the yellow marking towards Floßplatz. This section, now called Alpine Trail, turns right again after about 50 meters and follows a narrow, partly difficult path along the Königsbach towards Zschopau valley. On the way, you encounter the mine at Brandbach with an information board and a spring. Having reached the Zschopau, you walk upstream. You pass under the bridge structure of the B101 and turn right over the next bridge across the Zschopau to the Warmbad stop of the Erzgebirgsbahn.
You cross the tracks at the railway crossing and follow the green marking on the footpath along the federal road to the right. After about 100 m (before the bridge), you cross the federal road and turn towards Zschopau. Immediately afterwards, the green-marked hiking trail, which will continue on Holzstraße, leaves the Zschopau valley uphill to the left towards Laube at a bus stop. After about 1 kilometer, Holzstraße intersects the Zschopau valley hiking trail, and you continue straight ahead on the green-marked path towards Laube, which you will soon reach at the forest edge. At this covered rest area with a hiking car park, you cross Wolkensteiner Straße towards Drebach Planetarium (green). After about 1 kilometer, you turn right downhill following the yellow marking towards Drebach. In the village, you cross the main road at Gasthof Erbgericht and follow Straße der Jugend towards the observatory / planetarium to the sports field and the sports inn Krokusblüte. Here you can make a detour over the Milky Way to the public observatory Drebach. Our green-marked hiking trail turns right and now runs along a section of the planet hiking trail and the geology teaching path through a new development area. The path then turns left and leads you out of the village into the open fields. After a small ascent, you reach a crossroads at a small forest where the model of the planet Neptune is located. Here you leave the planet hiking trail to the right onto a slab road and follow it to Venusberg (green marked). On the way, you pass the Großer Teich and shortly before the entrance to the village you can take a detour to the right via Badstraße to the open-air pool Venusberg (open in summer) or to the left onto Steinberg (marked yellow circle). There you can not only take a break on the benches but also enjoy the view over the surrounding landscape.
Our green-marked route soon crosses Herolder Straße. We follow the signs towards Waldhof through an industrial estate, past the sports field to Gelenauer Straße. Here we turn left. After about 150 m, we follow the road towards Grießbach (green marked) to an old, solitary beech tree with a bench and signpost at a junction. Here, our now yellow-marked hiking trail leaves the main road and leads downhill to the restaurant and guesthouse Waldhof.
Immediately after passing the inn, turn right onto a narrow hiking trail marked with a yellow circle. After a few meters, you cross a small wooden bridge. Then the path sharply turns left up the slope. Shortly after, still following the same marking, you reach a wide path that leads you along meadows and fields to Grießbach.
You enter Grießbach at the bus turning loop. After another 100 meters, you reach a junction with a hiking signpost. Here you turn left and follow the yellow marking through the open fields towards Heideberg. A detour to the left is worthwhile. Next to a shelter with benches, you have a great view of the Ore Mountains and Scharfenstein Castle. Back on the main path, we follow the green marking into the forest to Affenstein. From high above, you can look over the Zschopau valley and Wilischthal station.
From Affenstein, the now yellow-marked path leads downhill through the forest towards Wilischthal. Passing two houses at the forest edge, it continues downhill on the now paved path. Under the railway bridge, you walk in a loop over the Zschopau uphill. Directly at the end of the bridge, turn right into a narrow path towards Scharfenstein (yellow marking). This path brings you after a few hundred meters to the main road, which you have to cross. There, you meet the red-marked Zschopau valley hiking trail that takes you parallel to the main road and the Zschopau to Scharfenstein. Shortly before Scharfenstein and opposite the castle, the path leads to Brauerbach, where there is a rare fire salamander population. Keep right, cross the brook, pass an information board and a small forest car park and follow the red marking to Scharfenstein Castle, around which a nature teaching path runs. Past the castle driveway, descend towards Scharfenstein station to the hike's starting point.
