Ilse valley
The Ilse valley (German: Ilsetal) lies on the northern boundary of the Harz in Germany, running from the National Park town of Ilsenburg at the foot of the mountain range up to the source region of the Ilse river – near the summit of the legendary Brocken. Heinrich Heine, the famous German writer, described the Ilse valley with its little river and the rocks of the Ilsestein enthroned above it in what is now part of the Harz National Park.
As one approaches the northern edge of the Harz, one can see its more prominent peaks. Between Goslar and Wernigerode, the mountains are especially striking, where their slopes rise steeply from the valley. Between the mountains of the Harz run deep gorges. These include those of the Ilse river as well as the parallel valleys of the Oker, Ecker and Bode.
From 1830 to 1838 a country road was built, paid for by Count Henry of Stolberg-Wernigerode, from Ilsenburg via Spiegelslust through the Ilse valley, running past the Brocken to Schierke, which made it much easier for tourists to reach the higher mountain region. Today it is closed to the public.
The Brocken (1,141 m above NN) can be climbed from Ilsenburg (250 m above NN) via the Heinrich Heine Way and the Plessenburg on a 15 kilometre long trail.
In or near the Ilse valley are the following checkpoints on the Harzer Wandernadel hiking network (in downstream order with checkpoint numbers in brackets): Gelber Brink (22), Große Zeterklippe (10), Brockenhaus (9), Stempelsbuche (8), Bremer Hütte (6), Gasthaus Ilsestein (30) and Froschfelsen (5).
Coordinates: 51°51′01″N 10°39′58″E / 51.85028°N 10.66611°E