Kuhstall Arch in Germany

Kuhstall Arch

Elbe Sandstone Mountains, Saxon Switzerland, Germany

Kuhstall Arch, or "Cow Shed" is 36 feet high, 58 feet wide, and 79 meters deep

I had never been hiking in Germany before, and my first experience was a great one!  We visited Germany on a European road trip in May of 2024.  My son, daughter-in-law, and 2 grandsons accompanied me on the trip.  My daughter-in-law knows how much I love arches, so she planned hikes to three arches into our trip.  Kuhstall was the first arch that we visited on our trip!  

I enjoyed how easy it was to follow the trail and the signs to find a brand new arch for me -- Kuhstall Arch, or "Cow Shed."  Before visiting Kuhstall Arch, we went to Bastei Bridge, which is only about a half hour drive from Kuhstall, both in the Saxon Switzerland area.  

map of the area, with Kuhstall in the middle

The hike is less than a mile from the parking area (Parkplatz Lichtenhainer Wasserfall) to the arch on an easy and very clear trail. 

This bridge is at the beginning of the hike.

The signage is very clear

And the trail is also very clear

with interesting sights along the way

This abandoned structure was very interesting

Peeking on the inside

It appears to be an old mine

My 5-year-old grandson enjoyed hiking the trail and watching for cairns, although cairns were really not needed on such a clear trail.

We came upon what I call a "Cairn Garden" and he decided to add his own cairn to the garden.

Then he decided to hitch a ride with his dad for the rest of the hike

View of the arch -- notice the fenced drop-off on the other side of the arch

This sign is beside the arch

You can walk under and through the arch

There are fun places to play and climb under the arch

My grandson enjoyed climbing all around

View from behind the arch back on the trail that we had just come up

I took this photo while standing beside the fence by the dropoff

Looking straight up from the edge of the arch

The many layers of the arch, looking up

looking up from the edge of the arch

This small tunnel is fun to climb through

We decided to head up on top of the arch

This is called a Himmelsleiter, or "Jacob's Ladder"  It is a very skinny set of stairs that leads between a crevice in the mountain and takes you up on top of the arch.  There is no railing, but one is not needed because you are very close to each side as you ascend the himmelsleiter.

My 2 year old grandson climbed the himmelsleiter with the help of his mom

The stairs continued up on top of the mountain

We found very beautiful and spectacular views up on top of the mountain

I tried to get a photo off the edge, but this is as close as I dared to get!

A look down on the trail that we had just hiked

We hiked all along the top of the mountain

and then headed back down a different set of stairs

Such a spectacular view of Saxon Switzerland!  I hiked along the edge of the back-side of the arch to where people were climbing up to a small cave.  There was a railing to keep people from falling, but only one person at a time could climb up there, and there was quite a line waiting to see it, so I didn't go up there.  I did enjoy the view, though.

This arch is the second-largest arch in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains (Pravcicka is the largest)

There are other paths that you can explore if you have more time

The hike back to the car was even easier than the hike to the arch!

Map and Information about Saxon Switzerland National Park - there were signs along the trail in a variety of languages.

This arch is definitely worth the visit!  I really enjoy how accessible the arch is, thanks to the clear path and signs and plentiful parking.  Climbing up the himmelsleiter was a very big high-light for me -- I have never climbed or even seen one of these before!  I appreciate that developers made the top of the arch accessible by installing the ladder in the crevice of the mountain.  Being able to go under and over an arch is very enjoyable to me.  If you're in the Saxon Switzerland area of Germany, don't miss visiting this spectacular arch!